To everyone’s surprise, the Philadelphia Flyers started the season on a three-game winning streak before falling to the Florida Panthers on the second leg of a back to back situation. They way they’ve won their games, the way they’ve been playing, and how they’ve been able to manifest a 3-1-0 record in their first four games is rather impressive considering the fact they’re without Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson on the offensive side of the puck and without Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen on the back end.
Head coach John Tortorella has gotten the best out of his unit as they enter another back to back this weekend – on the road versus the Nashville Predators tonight before returning back home to face the San Jose Sharks on Sunday. Their quick start can be pinpointed to several different facets that are clicking and for their sake, keep clicking as the season continues to roll on.
Carter Hart
Great goaltending in the National Hockey League will take you places you’ve never dreamt of, and on a yearly basis we see some spectacular performances between the pipes, usually not wearing the Flying-P or the Orange and Black jersey. Carter Hart’s career is now being split by his first 2 seasons versus his 2 most recent seasons and the numbers are gaudy. Going from 40-26-4 with a 2.59 GAA and a .915 SV% to 22-35-12 with a 3.34 GAA and an .895 SV% will get you notoriety around the NHL, as ESPN made it painfully clear to us.
A lot of it can be explained by the shoddy defensemen that have tried protecting the crease over the last 2 seasons, the carousel of head coaches, the anemic offense, and also some soft goals allowed in the most inopportune moments.
It is only three games into the season for the 24 year old, but because of how much pressure has been put on the young netminder and because of how badly the Flyers need stability in between the pipes, his 3-0-0 start looks like a godsend right now. Third in the NHL in saves above expected, while carrying a .943 SV% and. 2.00 GAA on 105 shots against in 3 games is remarkable to say the least.
He has an interesting knack of allowing soft goals but then being able to shut the door the rest of the way by making the more improbable stops. Against the New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks he allowed some goals that he would like to have back but then stopped 25 of the last 26 shots in the final 2 periods against New Jersey and then 27 straight to finish the game against Vancouver. He stood even taller against the Tampa Bay Lightning, making 36 saves on 38 shots en route to another victory of the comeback variety.
Is it sustainable? Probably not, especially because no one has finished with a save percentage that high since Tim Thomas broke Dominik Hasek’s long standing record. Carter Hart is a great goaltender but he needs the help of his defense and the team in front of him hasn’t been stout defensively.
Over and over again we have seen odd man rushes going against the Flyers and a clear inability to clear the zone. For the Flyers to keep making noise, to continue their revenge tour, and make something happen, Hart essentially needs to be lights out and at least we can say that after three games, he has been.
Tony DeAngelo and Ivan Provorov
All summer long one of the biggest talking points was the acquisition of Tony DeAngelo and if he can actually help the defense. Considering he is an offensive defenseman and coming off a good season in one of the best defenses in hockey, it was tough to see how he would be able to fill in for Ryan Ellis or even Matt Niskanen. Ivan Provorov has needed help and he is a great defenseman, but sometimes even the good ones need a stabilizing partner and the Flyers haven’t been able to get that done over the years.
Not for a lack of trying at least, they traded for Niskanen in the summer of 2019 and he meshed perfectly with Provorov, so much so that we’re still talking about it to this day – 3 years later. Ryan Ellis was then seen as the saviour after Niskanen’s retirement and the Flyers not hurriedly finding a fixer-upper ahead of the 2020-21 season. Ellis is now a mystery for the time being and his situation is as mum as ever before.
The Flyers spent the summer prioritizing his replacement and in the end they went for the then-restricted free agent, DeAngelo. He was coming off a renaissance season in Carolina, definitely needed to silence his criticisms of being a bad teammate or even a bad person as many label it. Partnered with Jaccob Slavin, DeAngelo was spectacular and the Flyers noticed it and made the move on the second day of the draft.
He had outpriced himself out of Carolina and upon getting clearance to find a new suitor, the Flyers came busting through the door as quickly as they could. They offloaded a second, third, and fourth round pick for the troubled defenseman. Putting all the antics to the side and focusing on just the hockey player, he is exactly what they needed. A smooth skating, offensive-minded, end-to-end defenseman who could bring the best out of Provorov by allowing him to play his natural game and not have to worry about his rotating door of defensive partners.
Four games into the season and DeAngelo has 1 goal and 5 points, a plus-2 rating, 6 shots, 2 power play points including a goal, and is averaging a whopping 25:02 per game. He played 23:46 in his Flyers season debut, then 27:11 against the Canucks, following by 24:53 against the Lightning, and 24:18 against the Panthers. Provorov, who has always been the machine on the back end, is averaging 22:42 per game and DeAngelo has topped him every game in ATOI. This helps Provorov keep his body intact, not that he’s ever been one to miss a game with injuries with COVID protocols being the sole deterrent.
Provorov on the other hand has 4 assists in 4 games, is a plus-3, has 10 shots on goal, has 15 blocked shots, and 10 hits. He looks fresher, better, more confident, and the defenseman the Flyers have been praying to return to form.
The defense is essentially split into 2 groups of 3 with DeAngelo, Provorov, and Travis Sanheim leading the way and then Justin Braun, Nick Seeler, and Egor Zamula filling the rest of the minutes. Sanheim is third with 21:42 ATOI, which is then followed by Braun with 17:17, Seeler at 13:51, and Zamula at 13:24. Rasmus Ristolainen is needed to enhance Sanheim and give the Flyers a much more balanced and dependable bottom pair wth Braun slotting back to his regular spot.
Nevertheless, the Flyers have two minute munchers playing side by side, aiding on the offensive side of the puck, playing good defense, and helping on the special teams – including the already much improved power play.
Power Play
Speaking of improved power play, the Flyers haven’t been earth-shattering just yet with their man advantage but they’ve done something they didn’t do all of last year and that’s scoring a power play goal in 4 straight games. They are currently 4 for 16 to start the year after finishing with the league’s worst power play that clicked at a rate of 12.5%. It was so bad that Chris Kreider outpaced the Flyers’ man advantage all by himself last year.
They still look a little tentative with the puck to start games, they love passing, passing, passing, and sometimes it looks really slow. Yet somehow they are more dangerous than they ever were last year. They’re looking for the perfect shot a little less this year and in doing so have found the back of the net four times.
Rocky Thompson took over a mess and he’s trying to instil a different identity while up a man – or two. They’re moving around a lot more, they’re not just stuck in the mud and looking for the perfect cross seam passes, and they’re focused on getting the puck towards the net with traffic in front. Tony DeAngelo is the power play quarterback they’ve needed since Shayne Gostisbhere. No disrespect to Ivan Provorov, but he had issues controlling the top power play unit for a few seasons, including a season without a power play marker, and only having 1 in 135 games.
There’s always a body or two in front of the net in James van Riemsdyk and Travis Konecny, with Kevin Hayes and Joel Farabee playing opposite sides to DeAngelo. The power play can be a lot better and more efficient but it’s a good start for a team that struggled so much last year when given the advantage.
Comeback Kids?
The Flyers have done something twice already that they didn’t do once all of last year and that is coming back in a game after trailing 2-0. In fact, they already have 3 comeback wins already compared to their league-fewest 9 from last year. It’s not a sustainable method, but it’s impressing that Tortorella has already gotten this group to maintain their mettle, keep their composure, and remain confident, which is something they have outwardly mentioned they lacked time and time again.
Goaltending has to keep you in the games that you’re attempting to come back from and so far both Hart and Felix Sandstrom have stood on their head. Their most recent attempt against the Panthers was tough to watch but you also couldn’t help but to continue watching. The Panthers had odd-man rush after odd-man rush, yet they could barely solve Sandstrom. They had an early 2-0 lead and the floodgates looked to bust open, but the young Swede was determined in picking up his first win.
Unfortunately that didn’t come to pass, but not from a lack of trying from his teammates as they came back to tie the game heading into the third period. They were outplayed, outmanned, and Sergei Bobrovsky was barely being tested, yet somehow they were hustling every shift and it was truly a marvel in the weirdest of ways.
The young guns in Wade Allison, Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, and Tanner Laczynski are noticeable almost every shift, digging in the trenches, winning board battles, and persevering on the scoresheet at times as well. With the veterans chipping in at the top in Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, James van Riemsdyk, and Scott Laughton, getting secondary help has been a boost so far. Sustainable? At this point it seems so with how much effort they’re putting in shift after shift, it has to turn into goals at some point.
ESPN made sure to make mention over and over again about how unsustainable their brand of hockey is in regards to success. However, the Flyers don’t care about the outside noise, Tortorella has mentioned that people can say whatever they want, and he’s focused on his group and getting the best out of them. So far so good, he’s been a breath of fresh air for a gloomy franchise and truly been the best offseason acquisition to date.
