Analysis: Flyers shutout by Blackhawks 3-0

Blackhawks Goals

• Artem Anisimov (4)(Power Play), assists: Cody Franson, Patrick Kane
• Jonathan Toews (4), unassisted
• Alex Debrincat (2) (Empty Net), assists: John Hayden, Artem Anisimov

Flyers Goals

• None

The Philadelphia Flyers have now lost two straight games in a row, plus lost another defenseman to injury, and are about to play in the second game of a back-to-back against the St. Louis Blues. Oh boy, here are five takeaways from Wednesday night’s game.

5 Takeaways from Blackhawks vs. Flyers

• In an interesting twist, Dave Hakstol moved Travis Konecny to the second line with Wayne Simmonds and Valtteri Filppula, sending Jordan Weal to the third line. And man, did TK give the Flyers second line multiple opportunities to score. With Simmonds still a little banged up but soldiering on, Filppula was on the receiving end of a lot of speedy Konecny passes. He just has to score when he has the chance. Over the time, I think he will, it just didn’t happen in this game.

• The Flyers had so many open opportunities to score on Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford. They took a total of 35 shots on Crawford and he stopped every single one of them. Filppula, Sean Couturier, and Claude Giroux were just some of the Flyers who had some big shots on Crawford, but none of them were able to get past him.

• Along with not scoring any goals, the Flyers allowed two goals in 20 seconds in the second period. The Flyers’ penalty killing had held up pretty strong after the first two penalty kills, but the third one was a little too much as Artem Anisimov scored. After a good rush by the Flyers, however, Robert Hagg turned the puck over and Jonathan Toews was able to breakaway and score. Philadelphia did well in the first period and didn’t allow the Blackhawks to score which they had been struggling in the opening period of their last few games.

• Brian Elliott looked pretty good in net, making some big saves to keep the game at 2-0 for a long time and giving the Flyers offense a chance. It was an evenly matched game for the team for the most part but Elliott soon became the saving grace that the Flyers needed.

• Another game, another injury for the Flyers as they lost Radko Gudas in the first period with an upper body injury. Gudas’ head hit the elbow of Blackhawks left winger Brandon Saad as he was falling onto the ice. He didn’t return after the end of the first period. If Gudas is out for a considerable amount of time, the Flyers defensive pairs are mostly filled with rookies and Ivan Provorov who have had a total of 267 games of NHL experience between them. The most veteran player on the ice, defensive wise would be Brandon Manning. That’s a little scary.

Additional Notes

• Dale Weise returned to the lineup and played on the third line with Jordan Weal and Jori Lehtera.

• Rookie Nolan Patrick was placed on injured reserve. He and Shayne Gostisbehere did not make the road trip. Gostisbehere hopes to be able to play at home on Saturday vs. the Avalanche.

• The Flyers called up Will O’Neill as a backup defenseman. He should play against the Blues and make his NHL debut.

Star of the Game

Corey Crawford was Wednesday night’s star of the game. He posted a shutout on the Flyers and did just about everything to stop every opportunity that they had in their own zone, saving a Blackhawks team that desperately needed a win.

Flub of the Game

The flub of the game was the Toews’ goal, where the puck goes over Robert Hagg’s stick as he’s taking a shot. Toews is there to make the breakaway and score easily on Elliott. It happens. Toews is an incredible player.