Heading into the regular season, all eyes were on the Flyers’ defense and goaltending and whether or not they’d be able to right the ship after the roster purge. Not as much was being said about the offense since it was essentially the same group, with the lone exceptions being Cam Atkinson swapping spots with Jakub Voracek and Nolan Patrick being shipped off in the Ryan Ellis deal.
Five games into the season and the Philadelphia Flyers were scoring goals at a rapid pace, with 23 goals in that span at an average of 4.6 per game. Since then the well has seemingly dried up with only 7 goals in the last four games, including being shut out against the Calgary Flames. The power play has stopped scoring, the second line is invisible, the third line is creating chances but can’t finish, and the top line is producing most of the offense, if not all of it.
On the season, it’s no surprise that the two leading scorers are Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux. They both have 11 points in the first 9 games, with Giroux collecting a point in every game but one and Couturier amassing 4 multi-point efforts. Travis Konecny, who rounds out the trio, is third in points with 8 and has collected a point in every game but two.
In the first four games, we saw a more balanced attack and it helped tremendously that the second line of Derick Brassard, Cam Atkinson, and Joel Farabee clicked instantly. Farabee had three consecutive multi-point games to open the season, Cam Atkinson had 6 goals in the first 5 games, and Derick Brassard had 5 points in the first 3 games. Since then, Farabee has gone pointless in six and Atkinson and Brassard have gone pointless in four, with Brassard only collecting one point in his last six games.
The third line of Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom, and James van Riemsdyk haven’t been able to help the top-six on the scoresheet even though they’ve been playing pretty good hockey as of late. The chances are there but the production hasn’t been, as van Riemsdyk has 1 goal and 5 points, Lindblom has only 1 assist, and Laughton has 3 goals on the season.
Lindblom hasn’t recorded a point in his last seven, Laughton has scored 2 goals in his last two games meaning he had 1 point in his first seven, while van Riemsdyk has produced 3 points in his last four games. Laughton and van Riemsdyk appearing on the scoresheet of late is potentially a sign that the line is about to explode. Lindblom has also played well but hasn’t had the results to show for it yet.
Even though defensemen aren’t supposed to light the lamp as frequently as the forwards, you’d expect some offense from the likes of Keith Yandle, Ivan Provorov, and Travis Sanheim. Defensively they’ve played good, with Provorov playing exceptionally well amongst the group, however the points have dried up and that’s a problem considering they play on the power play.
Keith Yandle had 5 points in his first three games but nothing in his last six, Provorov recorded a point on opening night against the Canucks and the most recent game against the Penguins, but nothing in between. Sanheim also has just 3 assists to this point in the season. When this offense is firing on all cylinders it has a large part to do with the defense being activated and aggressive. Much more is expected but at least defensively they’re playing well.
The Flyers’ man-advantage was producing well at the beginning of the season, scoring 4 times on 11 attempts in the first four games. The top unit was meshing very well with Giroux, Couturier, van Riemsdyk, Konecny, and Yandle. They’ve recently taken Yandle off the top unit and replaced him with Provorov. In their last 5 games they’re 2 for 16 on the man advantage and they’re not producing chances either. There’s been lots of passing and not many shots or quality scoring chances.
Now it’s not entirely a cause for concern just yet. The season has only begun and we’ve seen two different versions of the Flyers offense. Let’s not forget that they are still without the services of Kevin Hayes and Wade Allison, while Ryan Ellis has missed the last 5 games as well. Once back to full health, the offense should be a lot more balanced and a lot more dangerous.
However, in the meantime, the top line needs more help. The Flyers look sluggish and tired, which could be because of their schedule that has been mainly road fixtures lately. Be that as it may, outside of the first line, chances are coming few and far in between.
Last night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins was a good example. The Flyers peppered Tristan Jarry with 38 shots but it seemed like a lot of them, if not most of them, were very simple saves and not heavily contested chances.
Their game against the Calgary Flames was an example of sluggishness and tiredness at the end of a 3 games-in-4 nights road trip to Western Canada. At one point the shots were 22-4 and they didn’t record a shot for 14 minutes in the second period. Between the final goal in the road win over the Canucks and Sean Couturier’s icebreaker in the third period of the Coyotes game on Tuesday, the Flyers went nearly 160 minutes without a goal.
With the schedule getting harder and harder by the day, the Flyers need to figure out their offense quickly and snap out of their funk. Up next are matchups against the Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes twice, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning twice, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and the New York Islanders. They are all games that are going to be tough and against very venerable offenses and defenses.
It’s early, they’re still 5-2-2, and they’ve had to deal with a few injuries to some top players. But with the season taking shape and everyone finally getting their feet wet, this is not the time to slip in the standings. The Metropolitan Division is the toughest one so far with every team being above hockey .500, including the 9-0-0 Hurricanes. Giroux, Couturier, and Konecny need to not only keep producing, but they desperately need some help and consistency from the rest of the team.
