I was in the building last night. I’m going to be honest, because that’s the only way I know how to write this one.
The Flyers got dog walked. 7-0 by Pittsburgh, at home, on opening night. According to the Inquirer, it ties the worst season-opening loss in franchise history. The other one was in 1971.
What’s going on
The numbers are as ugly as it looked from my seat. Pittsburgh outshot them 38 to 19. The Flyers turned the puck over 21 times to Pittsburgh’s 11. The power play went 0 for 3 and gave up a shorthanded goal to Nick Robertson. Pittsburgh’s power play went 2 for 4. The only thing the Flyers won all night was the faceoff circle, and they did nothing with the puck once they had it.
I pulled the InStat data this morning, and it’s worse than the box score. Pittsburgh had 18 shots from the inner slot. The Flyers had 3. Expected goals were 5.1 to 2.1, and scoring chances were 30 to 12. They owned the middle of the ice all night, and that’s the same problem I saw on the second goal.
Rick Tocchet said it himself after the game: “I don’t think we won a battle.” He’s right.
This was game one against the team they just knocked out of the playoffs in April, a team that came in looking for revenge. You’d expect a team in that spot to come out flying. They came out flat and never changed gears.
What I saw from the building
Zero life. Not a single player looked like he had any jump. I watched the coaching staff mix the lines up trying to spark something. Nothing worked. Not TK, not Tippett, not Zegras. Let alone Michkov and Martone. Nobody tried to grab the game and drag the team with him. That’s my biggest problem with last night. It’s one thing to lose. It’s another to have nobody even try to light a fire.
The line blender. I went through the InStat line data and only counted shifts of 30 seconds or longer, so the quick on-the-fly changes don’t muddy it. Even then, 14 different forward trios got real shifts. The 1A, 1B, 1C idea from my preview lasted about a period.
Foerster, Dvorak and Konecny started as one of the top lines and were on the wrong end of shot attempts 7 to 2. Couturier, Grundstrom and Martone were out there for almost four minutes together and lost the shot attempts 11 to 1. Konecny was on the ice for 13 attempts against and only 4 for, the worst mark in the top nine. Martone wasn’t far behind at 15 against and 5 for. And the fourth line ended up with more ice time than any other trio.
The one combination that worked was Michkov with Dvorak and Foerster. Six shot attempts for, three against, and four shots on goal in just under four minutes. That’s the look I said I wanted to see in my preview, and it was the best line the Flyers put out. Michkov was on the right side of shot attempts 14 to 7 overall, and Bump was 8 to 4. So when I say nobody had jump, those two were the exception. It just wasn’t close to enough.
Here’s the part the 30-second filter hides. Three of the four even-strength goals against came on shifts shorter than 30 seconds, in the middle of line changes. One came with Zegras, Foerster and Konecny on the ice together for three seconds. When you’re blending lines and changing on the fly that sloppily, that’s what happens. The second goal is the perfect example.
Vladar. It’s not entirely his fault. He was left out to dry for most of the night. But he probably wants three or four of those back.
The second goal. This is the clip I’m pulling, because it’s the whole night in one play. Ville Koivunen’s goal at 15:44 of the first.
It starts with a bad line change by Foerster and Martone. Zegras gets left out there flat-footed, not aware of where anyone is. And for some reason the defense is holding the defensive blue line, so as soon as Koivunen catches the pass with speed, he’s gone. You’re trained from the time you’re a kid not to let anyone get behind you. When you see a guy cutting to the middle with speed, looking for the pass, you have to start cheating to the middle. Give up the blue line before you give up the middle of the ice. That’s not a system problem. That’s just lazy hockey.
The power play. There were a few good moments when the units got set up and into their structure. But as a whole it looked predictable and lifeless. Guys standing stationary, waiting for the puck to find them.
That’s the best look the power play had all night. Michkov is down on the goal line, sees Foerster crashing down from the flank, and just misses him. But it only happened because they won a battle and changed sides with the puck. It wasn’t a set play. It was a loose puck that went their way.
It starts with the breakout. If you can’t get set up, you’ll never have a winning power play. Zegras has to be the one carrying it into the zone and setting it up. Michkov tried to do it a couple of times, and that’s just not his game right now.
Once they did get set up, everyone stood still. I’m a big fan of the flanks motioning down before they catch the puck. If they’re already moving when it arrives, they’re walking in with speed, ready to shoot or move it. That forces the penalty kill to react and get out of position, and that’s where the open looks come from. The one time Foerster did it, it produced the best chance of the night. The rest of the night it was five guys standing still. Against a good penalty kill, standing still is how you give up shorthanded goals.
And the shot selection was terrible. Zegras was putting pucks on net with no screen and nobody taking away the goalie’s eyes. That’s a free save.
If this power play hadn’t been near the bottom of the league last year, at 15.7%, and for most of the last five years, I’d give them a pass. If the game had been close, I’d give them a pass. Neither is true.
The building was dead too
And while I’m at it: the building was dead.
In the first period I heard two or three attempts by fans to get a “Let’s go Flyers” chant going. Nobody joined in. The only loud chant after puck drop came from Gritty in the third period, when the game was already gone.
I get what Gritty is for. But instead of using him for cheap laughs, throwing sheet cakes and tying up a penguin mascot, maybe we have our mascot try to get the team going. It’s disgraceful at this point that all of the fan complaints about Comcast’s corporate approach ruining the Flyers are still true.
I’ve been a stout supporter of Dan Hilferty, Keith Jones and Danny Briere. I still want this plan to work. But you will never attract the star players you’re actively recruiting if they look at Philly and see a mockery. Losing 7-0 while Gritty throws sheet cakes is a mockery.
You might win over the six-year-old at his first game. But when that kid grows up and his favorite team hasn’t been anywhere in ten years, he’ll be no different than the fan base sitting in that building last night.
Where I’m at as a fan
I’m not one to usually overreact. I lived through the late 90s and early 2000s. I remember what it was like as a kid rooting for a Flyers team that was always competitive. 2010 was the biggest letdown of my life, but at least I saw light at the end of the tunnel.
This past year they sucked me back in. They made the playoffs when the odds gave them less than a 5% chance late in the year. I bought in.
Last night showed me that, as a team, they’re no different than the last 14 years of mediocrity I’ve been watching.
What I’d like to see
They’re right back at it tonight in New Jersey on the second half of a back-to-back. I want to see a response. Someone has to drag this team into the fight.
And to everyone saying “I wouldn’t trade X, Y and Z for that type of player,” let me tell you this. Outside of one or two guys, nobody on this roster should be untouchable. If a deal helps build for the future and brings in the right type of player you need to build a winner, you make it. I laid out what a Dylan Larkin deal could look like here: Three ways to land Larkin. I’ll be honest. When I wrote that article, I was out on Larkin and the idea of trading for him. But after last night, I might really consider it if he opens his list up.
Let me know what you saw @BroadStBreakout.
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