They did it gang! Things got a little dicey early on in this one, but the Flyers hung on and rallied back in a big way, flexing the strength of their offense and powering straight through the Rangers. And, because we’re working with a completely normal schedule, here, we’ll see the Rangers again tomorrow, when hopefully the Flyers can really go and crush their playoff hopes. But until then, let’s just talk a little bit more about this win.
All stats via Natural Stat Trick.
1. First periods are unkind (and in new and more inventive ways)
The issues the Flyers have faced in first periods of games aren’t new, and we’ve probably talked about them ad nauseam by now, but we have to talk about them a bit more.
We’re somewhat used to those ugly first periods involving the Flyers not executing on their details well, or getting burned some by the dumping and chasing they fall back on early, things like that. And while the Flyers did get off to a somewhat poor start to this one, as we mentioned in the intro, actually didn’t fall victim to those same old bad habits in this one. Instead, it was just an issue of the puck taking some weird bounces on them and them not really being able to handle it well, and that had them looking scrambly and out of synch to start. And that doesn’t really make the slow start much easier to swallow, but it’s worth noting that it was something a little different doing on there. Which, in a way, feels about right, but hopefully it’s not something that gets repeated soon.
2. But a good bounce back is critical
But, with all that said, maybe the good news to take from that is because it wasn’t the Flyers’ normal brand of first period struggles, it didn’t take them quite as long to shake them and get themselves back on track. As soon as a little past the midway point of the period, the Flyers started to even out a bit and look not quite so scrambly. And, as such, they really started to pull momentum in their favor and dominate most of the game from there on out.
We saw the goal based results—four straight goals after the Rangers struck first, with no real signs of them slowing down and looking to give up too many good chances late. The Flyers were dominating, and the underlying numbers back up the sense the eye was giving us. All told, the Flyers came out of last night s game with a 61.48 CF% and 65.78 xGF%. Their response to the dicey start to the first period was strong, and they really didn’t give the Rangers much to work with as game went on, nor did they let off the gas when they established a comfortable lead. In short, that’s exactly what we want to see from them.
3. It’s Claude Giroux’s world, and were just living in it
If we were set with the task of picking a first star of this game, hands down it would be Giroux. It’s been a little bit since we’ve seen him just have a monster game, and if you were missing it heading into last night’s game, well, you were in luck.
Even before he picked up his first goal of the night, it sort of felt like he could have had two or three already with the number of high danger chances he was generating or close to generating. He was right there on the doorstep, so when he did this, it felt like it was only a matter of time.
The “old captain” has still got it. pic.twitter.com/3gdeMrkGD6
— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 29, 2020
He picked up that first goal on the power play, and then his second later on at 5-on-5 as he continued to do a lot of good work as the game went on. He ended up leading the team in individual shot attempts with six, and tied for the team lead in individual high danger chances with three across all situations. In short, he was a force out there, and it was pretty delightful to watch.
And the sort of fun thing about this season is that, while we’re used to seeing Giroux just taking the team on his back and dragging them to success, he doesn’t really have to do that anymore. He finally has the support from the rest of the lineup to take some of the pressure off of him, so it’s not just up to him anymore. But, that said, that doesn’t make games like this one any less fun to watch.
4. Carter Hart remains clutch
Speaking of standout performances, Hart was right up there with Giroux and having a very solid game. We mentioned the slow start already, and while the Flyers did give up that early goal to fall into a bit of a hole, Hart was key in making sure that they didn’t fall even deeper into that hole and get into a position where they couldn’t come back in this game. He workload slowed a bit as the Flyers picked up momentum and spent more and more time in the Rangers’ zone, but he still made the big saves when they needed him to at the other end. At the end of that day, he’d stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced, with the two goals given up coming from high danger shots. Which isn’t too bad if you ask us.
He did still give up the two goals, yes, but they’re not ones that we’re too fussed about—the first one had some weird bounces happening, and the second, you would’ve liked to have seen Hart get some help from the skaters so Brett Howden wasn’t able to park right on top of him in the first place. Maybe he could’ve made saves there, but they would have been difficult. And given the larger body of work from this game, we come away from it feelings pretty positive about his performance. He did his job and played a strong game, not much more to it than that.
5. Special teams, thanks
An added blessing from this game, that we’ll hit on before we go, is that we’re coming away from it not having to whine too much about their special teams performances. Indeed, the penalty kill in particular had a strong showing, keeping the Rangers off the board in each of their three power play attempts. It wasn’t a perfect showing, as they still gave up six shot attempts and five scoring chances, but at least didn’t allow any high danger chances. It wasn’t the flashiest of penalty killing performances, but it was enough to get the job done and keep the Rangers from getting the chance to claw their way back in this one.
We come away from this one, too, feeling pretty good about the power play. In their three attempts (four minutes and 57 seconds) they registered ten shot attempts, five scoring chances, and three high danger chances. Oh, and then there was the goal too, that we saw already, as Giroux picked up the conversion on their second attempt. It still feels a little foreign, given the state of the power play earlier in the season, to be able to praise their puck moving and appreciate their contribution to extending the lead for the Flyers, but it’s certainly something we can get used to. They got a lot of help from both of their special teams units last night, and that’s a distinct positive to take away.
The only damn thing I know
I’m sure I’ve complained in this section before about how the relatively rare Monday games are the worst in that they completely throw off my whole sense of time and orientation in my week. But somehow, the even rarer Friday game is even worse. My brain can’t handle this, gang. I have no idea what day it is now and I’m having a bad time. Please, let’s go back to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday games. I’m begging you.
