ECSF Game 3: Time on Ice Numbers

If I'd have told you that the Flyers fired 57 shots toward the Boston net at even-strength and only iced the puck once, you'd probably think the Flyers won the game.  Well, that or the Flyers trailed for a large portion of the game and were desperately trying to get back into it.

Unfortunately, it was the latter.  Just like before, the Flyers lost for many reasons in Game 3, but let's look at territorial possession any way.  There certainly are outliers.

Despite outshooting the Bruins 26 to 15 at even strength, 38 to 18 when including missed shots, and 57 to 25 when including blocked shots, there was still one Flyer to have a negative Fenwick, Corsi, and SOG mark.  Seriously.

Jump for the zone-start bullets and Corsi table.

For the full zone start numbers, click here.

• The Flyers only iced the puck once, 1:33 into the game.  Briere, Giroux, Leino, Coburn, and Timonen were on the ice.
• The Flyers took 10 defensive zone draws in the game and 17 offensive.
• Neither van Riemsdyk or Ross were on the ice for a single defensive zone draw.
• Nodl, Hartnell, Powe, Pronger, and Carle were only out for one defensive zone draw.
• Coburn led the way with 6 defensive zone draws (5 non-icing).  Giroux and Timonen had 5 (4 non-icing) with a bunch of players tied at 4 total.
• Pronger (11), Carle (10), and Briere (10) led the way with offensive zone draws, with Richards (8), Leino (7), and Hartnell (6) coming in behind.

For the official Corsi table (including Bruins stats), click here.

The three best players were Arron Asham, James van Riemsdyk, and Kimmo Timonen.  The three worst players (excluding Ross' 4:16 TOI; Nodl's 6:29 TOI; and Betts' 8:24 TOI) were Ryan Parent, Dan Carcillo, and Scott Hartnell.  If you're wondering why those three players are exempt, neither Betts nor Nodl allowed a single Bruin shot while they were on the ice, and I can't justify singling Ross out for a bad game when he only played 4 minutes and didn't do anything wrong.

Shots on Goal

The Flyers won this category 25-15, yet Ryan Parent got outshot 6-2 making himself the only Flyer to do so.  In addition, only Jared Ross, Scott Hartnell, and Dan Carcillo failed to have more shots on goal for than against.  Before even getting to Fenwick and Corsi, it's pretty obvious who the three italicized names were going to be.  It doesn't help that Parent, Hartnell, and Carcillo were on the ice for a Bruin goal.  It only gets worse from here for these three, so let's go to positives.

Darroll Powe (8-2), Ville Leino (9-3), Lukas Krajicek (6-2), Danny Briere (7-3), and Chris Pronger (12-6) all finished with more than twice as many shots for than shots against.  Despite that, Leino, Krajicek, and Briere all finished in the negative, largely due to Krajicek's error on the first Bruin goal against.  Still, baby steps for Krajicek.  Also, another strong game from Leino and Briere is good news going forward.

Fenwick (SOG + Missed Shots)

Back to the three goats:  Parent (-4), Hartnell (1), and Carcillo (2) bring up the rear here, with Richards (3) and Briere (4) not far behind.  The worst part about those three being so far low is that in Hartnell's 11:23 ESTOI, the Flyers only got 4 through to the net.  Three reached Rask and one went wide.  Even Carcillo got 8 shots through (6 saved, 2 missed).  Ryan Parent's minus-4 Fenwick included two saved shots and one missed shot.  That's only one fewer than Hartnell, and we all know Ryan Parent's offensive prowess.  Yes, Scott Hartnell really did have a terrible game last night.

The Flyers as a team were plus-20 in Fenwick.  Kimmo Timonen was a plus-12, Arron Asham and James van Riemsdyk were plus-11 and Matt Carle was a plus-10.  What's incredible is that Asham only played 13:46 at even-strength and JVR played 14:08.  Really strong games from those two, and Asham got rewarded with 2:31 of power-play time.  Credit must also be given to Timonen and Carle, two guys who are heavily counted on in the defensive zone who stepped up in Game 3.  How much?  In 18:00 of even strength time with Timonen on the ice, the Bruins only got one shot on goal and one missed shot.  Two shots in eighteen minutes of play.  Stick tap to Kimmo Timonen.

Corsi (Fenwick + Blocked Shots)

The Bruins blocked a lot of Flyers shots (21 total, 19 at even-strength) in Game 3, and that was a large factor in the Flyers firing 32 more shots at the net than Boston.  Needless to say, the Flyers fired a ton of shots at Rask, but only one went in.  Despite this 32-shot advantage, Ryan Parent was still a minus-1.  Despite getting last change, the Flyers still couldn't take advantage of the matchup choice.  And despite neither Nodl or Betts being on the ice for a single Bruin shot attempt, they barely played.  Not a single goal, save, missed shot, or blocked shot.  Carcillo (6), Richards (7), Hartnell (7), Leino (7), and Briere (7) were unable to take control of the game. 

When the Corsi leaders are Asham (17), van Riemsdyk (16), Timonen (14), Carle (13), Pronger (13), Coburn (13), and Krajicek (12), there's a problem. Five defensemen in the top-7.  The Bruins didn't spend much time in the Flyers zone, yet they still won 4-1.

Conclusion

The defense did their job and kept the Bruins out of their zone.  Krajicek made an error on the first goal, and a terrible bounce led to the Bruins third (PP) goal, but the second goal was all on the forwards.  And when your best players are your third-line wingers, you're not going to win too often.  Even when you fire over 70 shots at the net.

Why were the Flyers best players under-whelming?  Carcillo spent over 9 minutes against Chara and Boychuk; Richards spent nearly 11 minutes against Boychuk, and nearly 12 minutes against Chara; and Hartnell spent 8 over minutes against Boychuk, and nearly 8 against Chara.  It seems safe to assume that was the top line for a large portion of the game, and they couldn't get much done.  Yes, Chara is really good.  Maybe that's Laviolette's fault, maybe it's the players. 

But Leino spent over 8 minutes against Wideman and over 6 against Hunwick while Briere spent nearly 9 against Wideman and 7 against Hunwick, and they couldn't beat those two either.  Those two failed to convert against lesser talent despite controlling the play.

What about the good?  Arron Asham scored a goal and had the highest Corsi in the game while playing against Wideman (6.8 minutes), Savard (6.1), and Hunwick (5.9) minutes.  JVR, the second best player in the game had to play against Boychuk (6.5), Wideman (6.3), and Savard (6.0). 

Four people deserve praise for their performance in Game Three:  Asham, van Riemsdyk, Timonen, and Betts.  Hopefully they can do it again tonight.