The Flyers were on the wrong end of the scoreboard in a 3-0 loss to the Bruins. The story of the game was Flyers goaltender Sam Ersson who left and didn’t return, putting an already muddled goaltending situation possibly much, much deeper in the mire.
The Basics
First period: 13:28- Morgan Geekie (Matthew Poitras, Hampus Lindholm)
Second period: 11:23- Justin Brazeau (Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm)
Third period: 16:21- Brad Marchand (David Pastrnak) (EN)
SOG: 20 (PHI) – 31 (BOS)
Start with Ersson, Kolosov in relief
We weren’t sure exactly if it was a flu bug or a far bigger issue but Sam Ersson was perfect in his roughly eight minutes of play and then left the game. Play was stopped minutes earlier when he lost a skate blade which was replaced. Then, after talking to the trainer on the ice, he was replaced by Aleksei Kolosov. Kolosov, making his second NHL appearance and his first in relief, wasn’t spectacular but with speculation of Ersson being injured, it looked like he’d be playing at least the rest of the afternoon (the Flyers ultimately confirmed it as a lower-body injury after the game). The fact the Flyers still had no backup goalie on the bench to start the second was odd as Ivan Fedotov should’ve been at the ready or at least in the building.
On the Brink but…..
The Flyers’ first two power play chances were showing gradual improvement. After just one shot on the first man advantage, the second unit during the second power play had some much better zone time and chances. Bobby Brink tried a backdoor pass to Couturier but was foiled. Brink was one of the few who was going to the front of the net which caused a few problems for Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
Defend, clear, repeat
The Flyers spent nearly all of the opening six minutes in their own end with some just bad clearing (yes you Tyson Foerster) and doing just enough to stem the tide. But nothing really developed in the other end until a Bruins minor against Charlie McAvoy at least kept Ersson from seeing much action. It looked like the team pushed the snooze button a few times on this Saturday afternoon. If they were using the old rope-a-dope philosophy they certainly had the dopey part down pat. Outside of a two-on-one led by Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett which was easily broken up there was little happening.
The Bruins took the early lead on a goal by Morgan Geekie who took a rebound off the boards and put it between Kolosov. At that time they were quite fortunate to be only down one. A miserable period all around if you see the Flyers had 24.14 per cent of the scoring chances. And that’s being kind.
Enough with the dumb penalties, please
Coach John Tortorella has been saying repeatedly to not take dumb penalties. Travis Konecny was guilty of one less than a minute in but like the coach, this writer was scratching his head at the so-called infraction. The Flyers killed with a few stops by Ersson and some easier clears. Late in the first Noah Cates was called for another minor and it was almost vital for the Flyers to leave just a shot from tying it. They were successful although the Bruins hit iron on a Brad Marchand shot.
If Ersson is out any length of time these stick infractions have to be cut down by at least half if not more for the Flyers to survive with a Kolosov/Fedotov tandem giving them a puncher’s chance to win.
Pull goalie at 4:20? Why not
Down by a pair, Kolosov was pulled for an extra attacker with over four minutes to go. The Flyers applied some pressure but a whirling Marchand golfed the puck down the length of the ice for the third Boston goal. It wasn’t clear if Tortorella would simply leave Kolosov in after that but by that point the game was pretty much in the books for both sides.
Any thoughts of a late quasi-comeback like the Montreal 4-3 loss a week prior were not to be. A late power play could’ve broken the goose egg but it was just not the Flyers day for anything to go in the right direction.
Can’t score without shooting
The Bruins had 15 shots against Carolina the other night. They surpassed that total 22 minutes into Saturday’s contest. The Flyers meanwhile had five. Perhaps the guy that looked to have the most jump was Bobby Brink who made a few plays and seemed to be one of the few bright spots. But then Brink had a major brain cramp that gave Boston a perfect chance. Kolosov stood tall enough to keep Philadelphia just a shot away.
The second period showed them to have a bit more fight with Frost being fed a pass from Owen Tippett but Frost was stopped by Korpisalo. The center (who avoided a tripping penalty late in the third) remains without a goal and combined with the production of Tyson Foerster and Tippett they have three goals combined. Sadly the Bruins scored their second goal of the game midway through the second as Brad Marchand fed a pass to Justin Brazeau who was untouched for a one-timer Kolosov had little chance on.
Hathaway hurt
As if the problem with Ersson wasn’t enough, the Flyers dealt with another mishap when Garnet Hathaway was cut when his head hit the glass. We’re not sure if he was being stitched up and dealing with concussion protocol or enduring both, but the injury in the second period saw Hathaway miss some shifts while the Flyers juggled the lines.
Hathaway was back late in the second for a shift, all stitched up, and avoided any lengthy stretch out of the lineup. He managed to take a poke at a Bruin late in the third before taking a jab himself by Mark Kastelic as both were tossed with double minors.
Rough day for Seeler, not so much for Andrae
Defenseman Nick Seeler had a game he’d rather forget. Through forty minutes, Seeler was at 23.53 per cent in terms of chances for in just under 10 minutes (9:54) five-on-five. In fact his name was rarely mention on the broadcast and didn’t seem to be doing a lot that was good. On the other hand, Emil Andrae was on the other end of the spectrum at 61.54, second only to Erik Johnson who had the least amount of ice time five-on-five (7:04) but was 63.64, tops among the blueline corps.
Michkov was okay
Matvei Michkov had a decent but unspectacular day. Although held off the scoreboard he had some good looks in the third period and drove play up ice. His frist game after being named NHL Rookie of the Month didn’t add to his rookie-leading point total, but he showed some pizzazz late in the game, stickhandling around two Bruins before setting up a speeding Andrae who, like every other Flyer today, didn’t finish.
Another plus is that he wasn’t benched during the game, making any running controversy between the coach and the forward dead in the water.
