Flyers Slowly Fall to Tampa

After a roaring performance against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday Night, productivity came to a screeching halt in a 3-0 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. With only 11 shots in the first two periods, and only 20 overall, the Flyers were offensively lacking with our secondary goaltender in net. The lack of shots was worrisome enough, and against a team as skilled as Tampa Bay was simply the nail on the coffin.

I wish there was more to say about this game, but it was simply a slow, boring, unproductive appearance for Philadelphia. There were high hopes for this game after a 6-3 win over New Jersey, especially as Tampa Bay was without key players such as Victor Hedman and Brayden Point. Had the Flyers come out with the same hunger and grit of Saturday night, we might have actually had a game.

Yet that was sorely not the case. The Flyers recorded only 4 shots on goal in the first period, compared to Tampa’s 7. I wish this was a case of the first period blues they’ve been bedridden with this season, yet it clearly was not. Things evened out in the 2nd period for a bit, with 7 Flyers shots and 5 for the Lightning. A late goal gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. An empty net goal with 15 seconds left in the third period closed out the scoring for the night, as the Lightning shut us out. 

The Flyers overall outshot the Lightning 20-18. Sam Ersson actually gave us every opportunity to win with his performance, stopping 15 of the 17 shots he faced in his 58 minutes on ice. 

Both teams were overall unproductive, with the most exciting part of the evening being Deslaurier taking down Tampa’s 6’9” Curtis Douglas, the only true Flyers victory of the night.

For both teams, their top lines determined the outcome. Tampa’s earned all goals, while Philadelphia’s was on the ice for 2 of the 3 opposing goals. Captain Sean Couturier shared his line’s responsibility in the loss, expressing his line was slow while others were giving their best shot at productivity. 

The Flyers are back on the road in Sunrise, Florida Wednesday night as they face the Florida Panthers at 7:00pm. The final game of the series against the defending Stanley Cup champions will be decided, as they’re currently tied 1-1.