On the heels of one of their worst seasons in recent memory, two massive question marks heading into the 2021-22 season for the Philadelphia Flyers had to do with their goaltending and special teams. Their power-play was middling, their penalty kill was second to last in the league, and their goaltending statistically was the worst in hockey.
Chuck Fletcher replaced Brian Elliott with Martin Jones and he also acquired Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam Atkinson, Keith Yandle, Nate Thompson, and Derick Brassard. All of them have played important roles on one or both special teams units. The hope was that Carter Hart would bounce back and return to his 2019-20 form, and acquiring a seasoned and younger fringe starter as his backup was priority number one.
We’re only six games into the season, with one remaining in the month of October, but the Philadelphia Flyers are much improved in nearly every statistical category; none bigger than their special teams and goaltending.
The pre-season had many of us worried because they successfully killed penalties at only a 60% clip. Their power play was so-so but looked better by the game, and their goaltending was tough to gauge based on who was playing in front of them on any given night.
Carter Hart is 2-1-1 with a 2.73 GAA and a .915 save percentage, whereas Martin Jones is 2-0-0 with a 2.02 GAA and a .941 save percentage. Hart’s numbers could be even better when you consider he gave up 4 goals in the second period of game one against Vancouver, but has been a brick wall ever since.
Hart has had some shaky moments, including at the beginning of the Oilers game on Wednesday as well. However, his composure and mettle to be able to bounce back and shut the door has been on full display. Similar to the first Canucks game, he stopped 22 consecutive shots in the final frames to help out his high-powered offense.
Martin Jones’ performances have been fantastic as well, considering he stopped 37 of 40 shots against the Boston Bruins and then followed that up with a 27 save performance on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks on the back end of a back-to-back. He had to come up large several times in the third period but none were bigger than the stops he made in his 16 save performance in the second period.
The penalty kill last season was atrocious, successfully killing penalties at a rate of 73.1%, bad enough for 30th of 31 teams in the league. The pre-season wasn’t any better and it had people questioning Mike Yeo and his schemes. However, miraculously, the Flyers have been killing penalties successfully on a near-regular basis. On the season they’ve killed 21 of 25 and if you take out the disastrous second period against the Canucks on opening night, they’re 19 for their last 21. An interesting stat to note is that Flyers’ goaltenders have a .923 save percentage on the penalty kill.
The power play last season was middling at best, finishing 18th and clicking at a rate of 19.2%. On top of an inconsistent power play, they allowed 6 shorthanded goals. This season the Flyers are scoring at a rate of 27.8% and both units pose as menacing threats.
Keith Yandle’s offensive prowess has been on full display and he is serving as the top unit’s quarterback in place of the traded Shayne Gostisbehere. Claude Giroux’s hot start to the season has helped as well, but having a consistent and performing second unit has made the biggest difference. Joel Farabee, Cam Atkinson, and Derick Brassard have found instant chemistry at 5-on-5 and on the power play. The Flyers follow that up by having Ivan Provorov and Ryan Ellis manning the points and it helps considerably, primarily due to their nature of getting the puck to the net.
The season has only begun and it’s hard not to fall for their early success, considering how they’ve started and played in years past. This is a much different team with a revamped lineup, a new identity, and a culture change. All the moves in the off-season were made for a reason and we’re finally witnessing it succeed first hand.
We’re just 6 games in, and with 76 games still remaining, anything can happen. However, from what we’ve seen from the 4-1-1 Flyers are much better special teams units and stout goaltending; two aspects that many Stanley Cup contending teams require and possess.
With the Calgary Flames on the docket tonight and a 15-game month of November soon to follow, the 4-1-1 start is great, but consistency is required for us to fully gauge all the changes as well as being able to confidently say the Flyers are contenders. So far, so good, and it helps that Carter Hart is playing like his 2019-20 self again.
