Defense drama does have its benefits
While the Flyers’ defense has been depleted by injuries and a trade departure, there is an upside to all this drama.
At least it’s giving some of the young prospects more playing time under meaningful game conditions.
With Rasmus Ristolainen, Jamie Drysdale and Nick Seeler sidelined during this current difficult stretch of games, the situation has given Egor Zamula, Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning a chance to get their skates wet.
So far, none of these newcomers has stood out in a bad way. There’s been a mistake here or there but really no red flags so far.
One good example: In last week’s 2-1 win over Metro Division leader Florida on Panthers’ home ice, the pairing of Attard-Ginning was nothing short of outstanding.
This had to bring a smile to the face of general manager Daniel Briere. Throughout his first season on the job, he’s made it his mission to emphasize youth and the future. Much of the talk had to do with big names such as Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink and rightfully so.
But if Zamula, Attard and Ginning wind up being solid NHL material, then the Flyers’ rebuild is at least slightly ahead of schedule.
The important thing is, this situation was created naturally, rather than forcing fresh faces to perform without just cause.
And when Ristolainen, Drysdale and Seeler do return, the Flyers can thank their lucky stars they had some depth to get them through a rather demanding time.
Evaluating Attard: This is Attard’s third stab at the brass ring and he’s trying to make the best of the opportunity. This past week’s acting bench boss, Brad Shaw, said Attard’s size (6-foot-3, 208 pounds) and his right-handed shot could help make him a potential NHL regular.
“I think he’s a real trying-toplease kind of guy,” Shaw noted. “And I think he could be a little more comfortable in his own skin. When he’s positionally sound and has good-stick, goodbody position, he gets to play offense.
“When he gets ahead of himself like most young guys, it tends to be not quite as effective. We’ve talked about one or two real keys which will help him. He hasn’t really strayed from that. For the most part he’s come in and played really well. It’s not easy – these are big games for an organization so there’s a little bit of added pressure that comes with that. It’s great for all these young guys to go through this.”
Adjustments for Couturier:
Sean Couturier missed basically a season and a half due to a pair of back operations, so it wouldn’t be a surprise that by game 67 he would begin to show some wear, tear and fatigue.
His playing minutes have been reduced a bit and he’s spent some time on the fourth line.
Going into Thursday night’s game against Toronto he had been scoreless in his previous 13 games.
“It’s been a bit of a tough stretch for him,’’ Shaw said.
“His strength is how smart he is on the ice. He’s incredibly smart positionally and with the puck. For whatever reason, it’s been a bit of a struggle for him in those areas. We felt that maybe we had better options.”
Couturier was named captain of the team and perhaps that applied a bit more pressure.
“I really think the rise of the Ryan Poehling line (including Garnet Hathaway and Noah Cates) lately has really sort of shuffled the deck a little bit. Sometimes you end up on the short end of that stick. He’s a proud guy and I know his game will resurface. He will put in all the necessary work to get back to where he wants to.”
Through 62 games, Couturier had produced 11 goals/35 points with an uncharacteristic minus-5.
True to that character, he has not complained about a reduced role.
“He’s a huge part of that locker room,” Shaw said. “He’s an example sort of guy from the pro side of things. You can’t have enough of those guys in the locker room. The young guys see how he handles this and works through it. Those are all real valuable lessons.”
Penalty kill slumping: Just a little over a week ago the Flyers’ penalty kill held down the No. 1 spot in the NHL at better than 86 percent.
But after giving up three power-play goals to Tampa and another pair to San Jose, the PK had fallen to third toward the end of the week.
“One of the hardest things on the penalty kill is to stay aggressive after you’ve been scored on,” Shaw said. “I think it’s just human nature to be back on your heels a little bit. We’ve given a few goals up lately. I think more pucks have gotten to the net with some of the injuries and departures on defense.
“I think the little things that go into you getting on that roll we were in. When they mesh together, the whole can be better than the sum of the parts. I think we’re paying a price way higher lately than some of the mistakes we’ve made. I think we’ve done a fantastic job up until this latest stretch. A lot of that goes to our goalies and our defense willing to block shots. Without Seeler in the lineup, that’s not going to be as much of a factor.”