While the Flyers were dealt with a tough loss last night in Pittsburgh, it wasn’t a game without its smattering of positives.
Though the results didn’t ultimately go their way, the Flyers made some adjustments to their approach and were able to build on their push late in Saturday’s game and deliver a more even showing on this time out. Their pace was better, and they were able to hold on to more pucks to set up some better chances throughout. They still had their share of chances left on the table, to be sure, but they looked to be playing a more connected game on the whole, getting things trending in the right direction in that regard. Towards that aim, it was a number of players who were able to deliver better showings than they did on Saturday, but their biggest standout by a comfortable margin was a player who watched that one unfold from the press box.
As the Flyers looked for a bit of a change in their lineup, a different look to get things going, they opted to switch Matvei Michkov out of the lineup and pull in Alex Bump in his place. It’s a move that certainly dredged up quite a bit of discourse on the outside of the team, but for his own part, Bump stepped up and proved that he was deserving of this nod he’s been given, and made an immediate impact in his first taste of NHL playoff action.
There was the immediate flash that he was able to deliver in picking up his first NHL playoff goal to provide a quick response — 12 seconds after the Penguins went up 2-0 — and get the Flyers on the board in the second period, he was around it in a big way all night. His very first shift saw him create a dangerous scoring chance, picking up a chance on the rush and getting to the front of the net for a shot, and this seemed a real tone-setter for the rest of his game. Not only was Bump creating chances in bulk (he led the team with 10 shot attempts and six scoring chances across all situations) but he was remaining engaged away from the puck as well, as one play late in the game stands out, where he made a heads up play to break up a Penguins rush attempt with a slick stick play and then turn it around and kick start a rush going the other way for the Flyers.
It was really stellar all-around game for Bump, and that level of impact was impossible to ignore.
“I thought the [positives were] that [Bump] was great,” head coach Rick Tocchet told media in Pittsburgh, “[Barkey], the young guys are good. We got to get some guys though. They got to get step it up. They got to play a little more more pace, shorter shifts.”
His play on an individual level was noticeable, and it made him one of their more impactful players on the night, and given the time that he’s been sidelined waiting for his chance to get into the lineup, it made it all the more impressive that he was able to step up as one of their biggest leaders by example.
“Well, he’s moving his feet” Tocchet went on, “He’s a shot threat; I think he had three or four chances off this, and he takes it to the hole for the goal. He’s been out for two weeks, you know. Really, really proud of the way he played tonight.”
And perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bump was able to rise to this occasion given his history with this team — after all, he scored his first NHL goal in that same building not even two months ago, and he played some of his best hockey of last season in the opening round of the AHL playoffs against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, as there’s clearly something in this organizational matchup that he has an easy time getting up for — but also for the fact that the rest of his history, including playing on college hockey’s biggest stage on the way to a national championship just last spring, has prepared him well to jump into this setting.
“I think just knowing I’ve played in these kind of games before,” Bump said after the game, “I played in front of a bunch of fans. Like, doesn’t intimidate me at all. Um, I love it actually. So, yeah, I just try to play my game, do what I do best.”
And this flash that Bump was able to bring in his debut was a combination of factors, with the fresh legs and the more innate elements of his game working well, but it was also a real testament to the work that he’s put in across the whole of this season.
“Well, he’s really improved from the beginning year,” Tocchet acknowledged. “He’s got a stop and start game. As much as he got the creativity, the shot, he’s got a stop and start game, like in piles and stuff. He’s stopping and he’s coming up with loose pucks. You know, that’s what he’s doing for us really, really well. We got to get some other guys to kind of play that way a little more. Stop and start hockey.”
That stopping and starting — as well as the way that Bump was able to put his head down and get himself to the interior for a handful of chances in this one — type of game was one that was emphasized a good deal by Phantoms head coach John Snowden this season as the type of style his players needed to be embracing, because even though it’s a harder style to play (halting one’s momentum to make a play and then getting it started again with pace), it’s also harder to defend, and that’s the type of play that’s going to lead to more success both at their level and the next. It was a bit of a work in progress, but Bump showed last night just how effective he can look, since he’s taken those lessons learned put them quickly into practice.
It will remain to be seen what Bump’s able to do through the remainder of this series — and last night’s showing should have been enough to buy him at least one more game in the lineup — but it’s clear that he’s tapped into an effective formula to kick things off, and the next challenge ahead will be sticking with it as the series continues to tighten up.
