Will Hakstol make changes to shake things up for Flyers?
VOORHEES, N.J. » You would think Dave Hakstol would be interested in making a series of changes after the Penguins made it look rather easy in a 5-1 victory Sunday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Flyers.
Facing a rather important (aren’t they all?) Game 4 Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center, Hakstol indicated Monday that he’s still pondering questions of changes he may or may not make for that game.
One rather obvious possibility: He might move sparkplug Travis Konecny back to the top line, where Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier have been held in check for two of the three series games. Another move could be made defensively, since defensive pair Andrew MacDonald and rookie Travis Sanheim seemed at times overwhelmed when Evgeni Malkin and/or Sidney Crosby was on the ice in attack mode against them.
But as for any line changes or defensive switches ...
“I honestly haven’t made the decision yet,” Hakstol said. “That’s my honest answer. The players are off the ice today. We always ... take a close look at it and try to consider whether it’s a tweak in combinations, whether it’s potentially a change in personnel.
“I think that all has to be on the table on a daily basis during the playoffs. That doesn’t mean there will be, but I can tell you we are looking closely at everything.”
Most of the Penguins’ damage came on the power play, which the Flyers had limited nicely in the first two games. In Game 3, however, Crosby, Malkin and Co. elevated their play, scoring three of the five goals with an extra attacker.
Asked if he thought the referees’ calls came a little too quick and easy — there were 15 minor penalties in the game, with the Flyers accounting for eight — Hakstol again demurred.
“Those are questions that obviously we ask going into the playoffs,” he said. “You try not to go in with any assumption. Even three games in, it’s a small sample size. In (Sunday’s) game ... I thought the call on (Giroux) — and that was a critical power-play goal for them — I still don’t think that was a penalty. But at the speed of the game, things get called.”
Giroux was whistled for slashing 1:12 into the second period, a time when the Flyers were only down a goal but still carrying the momentum of the game. The ensuing power play produced a Derick Brassard goal that gave the Penguins a two-goal edge, and the Flyers really never got back into the game.
The refs called it a slash. Hakstol, with a day to review the video, called it something different.
“G tapped his stick,” Hakstol said. “The stick comes out of his hand and that’s one that when that happens a lot of times it gets called. But my point is, beyond that, I thought they were penalties. We had our sticks where they shouldn’t be and we took a too many men on the ice penalty. Again, that is what it is, whether it’s regular season or three games into the playoffs.”
As for the seemingly obvious need to change things up, Hakstol says he didn’t make his mind up, but he did wind up dropping a hint. He said the Game 3 loss wasn’t as bad as the Game 1 loss, and not only because that one was by a 7-0 score.
“We didn’t play well as a team (in the first game), and at the end of the day it felt like we didn’t play well as a team,” Hakstol said. “So we’re not going to try to make one or two individual changes to spark things (now), and we sure as hell aren’t going to change everything up, because we’ve been a real good team and we’ve battled hard in a pressure situation down the stretch.”