In a refreshing change of pace, the Flyers thoroughly dominated the opposition both at even strength and on special teams. If not for a few early gaffes by Ray Emery, this could have easily been a blowout in the Flyers favor.
A ho-hum 1st period left the Flyers chasing on the scoreboard and in the chance counts, but the final forty minutes of regulation was almost all Philly. From the start of the second period onward, the Flyers outchanced the Coyotes 16-7 at evens. Arizona was lucky to see this game reach overtime and snag a point.
Home/Away Chance Locations
You can see the Flyers had almost free reign in the middle of the ice, peppering Mike Smith with tons of quality chances.
Without a doubt, this is one of the best performances we’ve seen from the Sean Couturier line all season. It’s a welcome change given how often they’ve been raked over the coals in tough minutes this month.
I don’t know what got into R.J. Umberger in this game, but I like it and I want to see more of it from the second-highest paid forward on the team.
The newly formed Straka/White/Simmonds line didn’t fare quite so well. Given that two-thirds of this line was dressing in an NHL game for the first time this season, they get a pass.
Even with limited minutes against the Coyotes bottom-6, the Couturier line was able to run up the chance counts. A single shift against the ‘Yotes fourth line produced four scoring chances, tons of sustained pressure, and eventually a goal.
There are both good and bad notes to hit with the defense. On the positive side, the Colaiacovo/MacDonald pairing was wildly effective. (Insert your favorite narrative about MacDonald getting married and playing better here.)
On the negative side, Luke Schenn and Michael Del Zotto continue to be a weak link defensively. They’ve been getting blown up in their own zone for a few games now and it’s starting to look like a troubling trend.
R.J. Umberger’s +8 on ice performance is mirrored by wicked individual performance. Of his line’s 10 or so scoring chances, Umberger had a touch on 7.
The Flyers also got strong individual performances out of Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, and Andrew MacDonald. (One of these things is not like the others!)
