At long last, the Philadelphia Flyers had their point streak come to a close. They were defeated by the Nashville Predators 4-2 after a late go-ahead goal that put away the game. With the Flyers being handed their first regulation loss in December, what were some takeaways?
Flyers Finally Pay for Poor Third Period
Even though the Flyers have been winning, their last few games have been very unlike them. They haven’t been great in the third period for quite some time and they finally paid the full price for it. Earlier this season, they dominated in all stages of the game — the wins just didn’t always come. The adverse has been true recently, where they have played some disappointing hockey in the late stages of the game but have won anyway.
It almost seems like a sarcastic comment to make to call the Flyers rebuilders considering their 18-11-3 record, but that’s exactly what they are. They simply cannot get away with bad performances in the final stretch with their lack of superstar talent. They have been winning despite some poor play, which is arguably worse than losing regardless of good play.
The Flyers’ streak was bound to end if they continued to play the way that they did in their last game versus the New Jersey Devils, for example. Teams with immense talent can get away with this, but the Flyers are not that. More often than not, they have to be at their best to win games. Now that they’ve seen the consequences of not playing a full 60 minutes, perhaps that is the spark they need to push them back in the right direction. Thankfully, the Orange and Black have built themselves such a cushion that they have time to figure things out.
Flyers Need Better Discipline
Although the Flyers did not allow a power-play goal against them and possess an elite penalty kill, they cannot be taking penalties at the frequency they were against Nashville. Not only did they find themselves in the box five times, but they carelessly did so. At some point, those penalties become costly and serve as a huge setback. The Flyers won’t win hockey games if they continue to be undisciplined. At least, not at the rate at which they have been so far this season.
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The Flyers’ sensational penalty kill has masked many mistakes in 2023-24. If it were just slightly less dominant, their record might be looking a lot different than what it’s at. In the end, the Flyers were fortunate to not have some bad penalties bite them. Just because it didn’t cost them on the scoreboard doesn’t mean it isn’t something they should address. If they don’t, it won’t be too long before it does.
Elevate Forechecking Game
Head coach John Tortorella spoke on it during his postgame presser, and he was right to do so — the Flyers’ forechecking was an issue in this one. Building off of that point, scoring off of the forecheck has been a problem throughout the entire season for Philadelphia. The Flyers might have a great transition game and are a team able to hem teams in their own zone, but they rarely score in those scenarios. In this game, the Flyers didn’t keep Nashville in their zone for extended periods of time at all.
The transition game isn’t always going to be available to the Flyers. They must find other ways to score. However, they haven’t been able to do so. When they’re at their best, they are scoring on breakaways and odd-man rushes alike. The Flyers only had one big chance in either of those situations, with a Cam Atkinson breakaway being snuffed out by Predators goaltender Juuse Saros.
The Flyers have definitely had their moments where the forecheck has worked, but it hasn’t been an area of dominance; that’s where the issue lies. Philadelphia has relied on their defense and goaltending to be elite, but that’s hard to win with if the offense isn’t generating any chances. This isn’t an unsustainable recipe for success per se, but it is a habit that the Flyers would certainly like to avoid.
Frost Gets Much-Needed Goal
Looking at a positive for this game, as the Flyers were just four minutes away from forcing overtime, Morgan Frost got some puck luck early in the game that got the Flyers on the board just over a minute and a half into the game. It was a puck that he didn’t even touch with his stick, nor one that he meant to score. Apparently, the hockey gods had his best wishes in mind. Getting on the board for the first time in December, he needed that goal desperately.
Frost had a hot start early this season where he was creating chances on a nightly basis but the pucks just didn’t find their way in the net. That play had been dying down over his last few games, but it shot right back up in this one. Aside from scoring a goal that had no business going in the net, he did a good job of creating some opportunities in this game. As long as he’s doing that, he’s a valuable player to have on the ice.
The Flyers won’t have much time to regroup from this loss, taking on the Detroit Red Wings on the road on Dec. 22 for their last game before the league’s holiday break. Detroit, 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, has been spiraling a bit recently. It’ll be a good matchup, but surely one the Flyers will want to win to end off with some positive vibes.