After a 3-game winning streak, the Flyers played some exceptionally sloppy hockey last night. They fell 5-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins, tying the Keystone Rivalry series 1-1. What started out as manageable, especially for a team that’s been so successful with the comebacks, quickly morphed into a slippery slope of slow, unorganized hockey. As Tocchet said in his postgame interview, we had a few too many guys who “weren’t in it”.
Although the Flyers narrowly outshot Pittsburgh in the first period (8-7), Sidney Crosby was able to score on the powerplay halfway through the period. Beyond the first goal, things weren’t looking too bad. I would’ve liked to see the Flyers come out stronger in the first rather than regress, as the first period was a key advantage in their wins this weekend. But you can’t win them all, right?
To put it as nicely as possible, shit hit the fan in the second period. Tyson Foerster scored on an early powerplay for his 10th of the year, becoming the Flyers’ leading goal scorer this season, despite missing 4 games in early November. Yet this wasn’t the reset the Flyers were looking for. Rather than reclaiming success, energy, and hunger, Foerster’s moment of victory was simply a lapse in the system. Rodrigo Abols was called for holding against Ryan Graves, allowing Crosby’s second goal of the night to develop on the powerplay.
Unfortunately, Crosby’s success wasn’t the worst part of the night. 13 minutes into the second period, the injury bug struck Tyson Foerster yet again. After tying the game just minutes earlier, Foerster attempted a one-timer, yet fell with his arm seemingly dangling as he made contact with the puck. He immediately took himself down the tunnel as chaos ensued in front of the net. Foerster did not return to the game. Fans speculate that it is a dislocation of sorts given the nature of his limp arm, meaning he would be out for about 8 weeks, give or take depending on the severity. Yet as it was a no-contact injury, there is possibility of a tear of sorts, which could be a season ending injury for the forward. Foerster went through shoulder surgery over the summer, yet was fit to return for opening night where he has been a staple for the Flyers’ offense. Despite missing 4 games in early November, Foerster has earned 13 points (10G, 3A) in 21 games played.
It was just downhill from there. The second period concluded with another powerplay goal for Pittsburgh, giving them a 3-1 advantage. Fans tried to stay optimistic as this team has pulled off some impressive comebacks, yet the Flyers didn’t live up to it.
A third and final consecutive powerplay goal midway through the third was Pittsburgh’s response to a slashing call against Matvei Michkov. Michkov has had 8 penalty minutes in his last 5 games. I respect the grit, and his teammates have mostly been able to cover for him, but I could see this being a slippery slope quickly. We saw such last night with a tired team after 5 games in the last 8 days, so I’m hoping this doesn’t become a more serious problem. The Penguins scored their final goal of the night deep in the third to secure their 5-1 win over Philadelphia.
It was a sloppy night all around. Pittsburgh was hungry for the win after losing 7-2 against Toronto in their last game, and we were riding a false high after our clean-sleep weekend. In reality, Pittsburgh had recovered veterans who were ready to come back against Philadelphia, while we had young players who were exhausted from the last week or so. We played slow and sloppy and gave them far too many giveaways. For a team that can play strong hockey, we need to better be able to adjust to playing through being tired. This isn’t the first time this has been a struggle, and I believe it to be something setting us back from being a truly strong team. While I’m never one to blame the goalie, Vladar was far off his A-game, which is to be expected after his exceptionally vital performance the last few weeks.
The team will take today off as we wait to hear more about Foerster’s prognosis. We hope this is not a season-ending injury and wish him the best. The Flyers move onto their second of 6 consecutive home games on Wednesday at 7:00pm against the Buffalo Sabres before continuing a challenging homestand.
Philly's Next Shift 