Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame

The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t surrender a shot for the first nine minutes of the game. But after that, it was all Buffalo Sabres.

The Flyers’ special teams continue to kill them. Philly allowed two power play goals in the first forty minutes, while not converting either of their opportunities with the man advantage. Since mid-November, both the PP & PK are bottom-4 in the NHL.

Owen Tippett scored for the FlyGuys, continuing his strong play of late, but nobody else really stood out. Oh, and #1 goalie Dan Vladar was replaced by Sam Ersson after the first period, with the Flyers confirming it’s due to injury.

A third period power play goal off the skate of Trevor Zegras gave the Orange & Black a little bit of life, and trailing 4-2 in the third

First period

Highlight: I don’t know if I can really call it a highlight, but with the potential for a 2-on-0 while trailing 2-0, Travis Konecny attempted to headman the puck to spring Trevor Zegras on a breakaway. Ziggy was waiting for TK to catch up with him and carry it himself, so he lost his forward momentum and as pressure started to catch up to him, tried to drop it back to Konecny, who hadn’t really found any open ice, resulting in what could’ve been a momentum changing sequence into a face-palm moment that pissed off Flyers fans everywhere.

What I want to see next period: Just establish a little bit of offense, play with some identity. Whether the Flyers can actually turn a rush opportunity into a scoring chance instead of an embarrassing low-light, or if they can start creating chances in the middle of the ice off of the forecheck and turnovers, it doesn’t matter. They just have to look like a competent hockey team, and maybe be aware when Josh Doan is lurking in the neutral zone. Doan leads the NHL in takeaways, and picked off a flat pass by Zegras, intended for TK, on a nice NZ backcheck to set up Buffalo’s second goal. Don’t let him do that again.

Second period

Highlight: Owen Tippett made a really nice play to get the Flyers on the board, but, who cares? It was 3-0 at the time, and the period ended 4-1. No, my highlight was Matvei Michkov trying to fight Peyton Krebs. The game is starting to get out of hand and the Flyers are clearly frustrated, and now there are mix-ups after every whistle. The Flyers are especially sensitive to any goalie contact after Dan Vladar was replaced by Sam Ersson to start the second period. So it wasn’t totally surprising, but pretty cool to see Michkov get in the mix, grabbing Krebs and even dropping one of his gloves to try to throw some punches. In a game that doesn’t feel winnable, I’ll take it.

What I want to see next period: A little bit of fight. It doesn’t have to be an actual fight, but try to turn this into a game. Don’t give one up, and if you do it better be because you’ve got five men at or below the top of the circles pressing for offense, and a loose puck turns into a breakaway for Buffalo. Don’t just make this final 20 minutes an exercise in running out the necessary amount of game time.

Third period

Highlight: Trevor Zegras ends his three-game pointless slump with a power play goal in the third period to make it 4-2 about eight mniutes into the third period. Zegras crashed the far post and directed the puck into the net with his skates off a cross-crease pass from Travis Konecny. Hey, at least it was a little interesting. Michkov drew a penalty late in the third to give the Flyers a chance to go 6-on-4 and make it a one-goal game, but the PPG earlier in the period was not the beginning of a hot streak. After a couple of chances, Buffalo forced a puck out at the point and turned it into a walk-in SH ENG.

Final note: The special teams are beyond horrific. Yes, they scored a power play goal tonight, but that makes them 10-for-80 (12.5%) since November 14th. Meanwhile, the penalty kill, which at one point was fantastic, has struggled just as much. After giving up a pair of PPGs on Wednesday, Philly’s PK is at 73.3%, placing them around 29th in the league in that time frame.

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame