The 8 game home-stand hasn’t done the Philadelphia Flyers any favours as they have now dropped the first 3 games. They have now lost 6 straight games after a short 2-game win streak before the All-Star break and even though they look a lot better and most games are “close”, it means nothing when that final horn sounds and they have their heads dropped in anger and/or shame. The St. Louis Blues didn’t play particularly well, but well enough to secure a 4-1 win in their first visit to the Wells Fargo Center in 3 years.
FIRST PERIOD
The start to tonight’s game was a little different than yesterday’s showdown between the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes only managed 2 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes and their first shot came almost 10 minutes into the game. Tonight the Blues started off rapidly in comparison, not only with offensive zone time in the first 2 minutes but they also took 3 quick shots. The pace evened out eventually as the Flyers received scoring chances from both Max Willman and Scott Laughton on breakaways that were both thwarted off by Jordan Binnington.
After a lull in play for a few minutes, the Blues started creating chances and driving play. It started with the second line of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, and Vladimir Tarasenko firing several shots towards the net but they either went high and wide or just missed an empty cage. That led to the following shift for the third line of Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, and Ivan Barabshev.
Jordan Kyrou came into the zone with speed and fired a wrist shot that rang off the post. The puck bounced to the stick of Ivan Barbashev who was initially robbed by the paddle of Martin Jones but the rebound laid in the blue paint for Brayden Schenn to clean up the garbage. Ivan Provorov and James van Riemsdyk didn’t react quick enough to get the puck out of the crease and that lapse in time and judgement allowed the former Flyer to break the dead-lock. Originally ruled as a no-goal, the referees conferred quickly and awarded Schenn the goal as the puck quickly bounced out of the net.
After a couple breakaways at the beginning of the period, the Flyers couldn’t muster much against the bigger, tougher, and veteran-filled Blues. Their next best chances came with just over a minute to go in the period when van Riemsdyk fed a trailing Travis Sanheim a pass in the slot, to which he fired a wrist shot that deflected off the stick of Torey Krug. Morgan Frost found Gerry Mayhew right in front of the goaltender shortly after but Binnington was able to keep the five-hole shut. The shots were 10-10 at the end of the first but it seemed a lot more favourable for the Blues.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period started the same way the first period ended with the Flyers looking tired and weary after playing the day before. At the half-way point of the second period the shot attempts were 40-29 for the Blues, the shots on the goal were in favour of the Blues, and their aggressiveness in the offensive zone led to the first power play of the game. They fired a few a shots on goal but not much hit the net.
It was a decent penalty kill from a Flyers team that is near the bottom of the league and in doing so they gained a little momentum and drew a penalty of their own. The Flyers actually had zone time, they actually set up, and they had a few chances but in pure Philadelphia fashion, nothing hit the net. Claude Giroux had the best chance when Travis Konecny’s cross-crease pass went through van Riemsdyk’s legs and to the stick of the captain. The puck was bouncing and with the net open, the puck sailed over the net as Giroux couldn’t get control on the bounce.
THIRD PERIOD
The third period was a lot more open than the previous two with several chances from both teams. Scott Laughton was on a 2 on 1 rush with Oskar Lindblom but the Swede’s shot went high and wide. Then on the ensuing rush the Blues second line had a mini 3 on 1 with Tarasenko getting stick checked at the last second by Nick Seeler. Following Tarasenko’s miss, Justin Braun took a slap shot that hit the cross-bar. The momentum was favouring the Flyers and with it they were able to tie the game thanks to an Oskar Lindblom blast.
Forcing a turnover in the defensive zone, the Flyers quickly turned from defense to offense with Travis Konecny entering the offensive zone with speed. He dropped the pass to Sanheim who made a move and turned back to find Lindblom at the point. He wired a slap shot in heavy traffic that Binnington had no chance in seeing or stopping, courtesy of Scott Laughton.
As the Flyers have done all season, the Blues re-took the lead only 42 seconds after the Flyers had scored. Tarasenko, who was stopped by Seeler only moments before, was able to sneak into the slot and score from his knees. It was really the only shift the Blues had spent in the offensive zone but they set up so quickly and had the Flyers chasing. Niko Mikkola received a pass from Colton Parayko in the corner and then banked it off the boards to Robert Thomas. He made a move and got past Justin Braun behind the net, only to find an unmarked Tarasenko in the slot.
With 5 minutes to go and in the offensive zone again, the Flyers drew a penalty as Torey Krug was called for tripping. In previous games the Flyers power play has had several chances to tie the game or even take the lead but never seized the opportunity. The Flyers had the puck for over 90 seconds but couldn’t get a shot on goal. They were passing, setting up, and moving around but the Blues didn’t give the Flyers any lane to shoot into. Their lone shot came from Rasmus Ristolainen with 6 seconds left on the man advantage.
The Flyers managed to get Martin Jones to the bench with just under 2 minutes to go in a bid to tie the game late. Took a little bit for them to set up but with 1:15 to go Ivan Provorov’s slap shot was deflected in front of the net but Binnington was able to react quick enough to make the save. That was their only chance with the extra attacker as the Blues managed to force a turnover at the point and Ivan Barbashev was able to ice the game with an empty netter. Brandon Saad added another empty net goal with 6 seconds left as Provorov coughed it up with a turnover at the point.
This represented the 13th time in their last 21 games that the Flyers had lost by 1 goal, or in some instances 2-3 because of an empty net. They were in this game as well, just like they have been in games against Pittsburgh, Washington, and Carolina. They just don’t seem to have the ability to break the game wide open and their momentums are very short lived since they always seem to allow a goal right after scoring one themselves. The Flyers have also lost 19 of their last 21 games and the deeper you dive into their struggles, the worse it becomes when considering the fact that they started out the season 6-2-2.
