The Flyers had an opportunity to try and get things going in the right direction today at home against an Islanders team that had gone 1-3-1 in their last 5 games, their lone win coming against the lowly Kings. Instead, they could not have looked much worse.
1st Period
Val Filppula had a shot attempt before the Flyers. That maybe should have been a clue as to how this one was going to play out. The most dangerous looks all game may have come on the Patrick line’s second shift. The trio of Lindblom, Patrick and Voracek started the game together and showed glimpses of their strong play from last season.
Unfortunately they were unable to cash in on their scoring chances and as most Flyers games have gone this season, a flurry by the Flyers was immediately followed by a goal by the opponent. Sanheim and Gudas got their signals crossed below their goal line, leading to a turnover and a goal by Leo Komarov at 11:38 of the first period. Just under two minutes later, a turnover just inside the blue line leads to a mini 2-on-1 in front of Neuvirth who was beaten by Anthony Beauvillier to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead.
The lone highlight of the period was a booming neutral zone hit by Ivan Provorov on Mathew Barzal, which caused a bit of a fracas and lead to a Flyers power play. Unfortunately the power play was unable to take advantage.
Corban Knight took what is believed to be a shot off the right hand in this period and did not return to the game.
2nd Period
The Flyers got off to a wonderful start as Ghost flipped the puck out of play for a delay of game penalty just six seconds into the frame. At 4:58 of the period, Christian Folin made an awful decision to pinch up in the neutral zone, leading to a slow developing 2 on 1 and eventual goal by Brock Nelson to make it 3-0 Islanders.
At 6:28, some life! Jori Lehtera loses the puck in the slot, but regains it and puts a shot past Lehner to put the Flyers on the board. Travis Sanheim made the play by pinching deep and working his way behind the net, leaving it for Lehtera.
The Flyers would head into the final 20 minutes down 3-1.
3rd Period
The Flyers were gifted an early power play on an interference call to Mayfield but were unable to do anything with it. From that point on the wheels officially came off. The Islanders would get two quick goals from Pelech and Nelson just 41 seconds apart, followed by a PP goal from Anders Lee just over a minute later.
How much more blood do you want, Ron?
Today we saw a team get demolished at home by an Islanders team who actively looked as though they were building a roster to finish at the bottom of the league in the off-season. We saw Dave Hakstol give Mikhail Vorobyev two shifts in the 2nd period and not a single shift in the 3rd period until after the Islanders scored to make it 6-1 with 8:51 left to play, despite losing Corban Knight to an injury in the 1st period. It’s a shame that Ivan Provorov had his best game of the season in this one (65.3 score adjusted CF%, 27.31 score adjusted CF% Rel at 5v5), because no one has time to think about or notice it.
The vanilla perimeter offensive zone scheme continues to stymie the creativity this team has to potential to unleash. The power play continues to struggle. Lappy’s Sex Panther PK (because 60% of the time, it works every time) continues to work its magic. All we can do is let this abomination shower over us until the stubborn man upstairs decides to make a change.
