They can’t win them all.
I had a bad feeling about this game on the schedule, as well as the one looming on Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes. The prediction of 4-2 on this six game road trip for the Flyers might well play out correctly, but this was one of the losses I unfortunately forecast, and it indeed came to fruition last night as the speedier Colorado Avalanche outlasted the Flyers by a very slim margin. It was a game that showcased two goalies battling head to head more than it did forwards on two decent scoring offenses, and the game stars reflected this as Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov and Steve Mason of the Flyers took the first and third stars respectively.
That’s not to say this game wasn’t winnable for Philly, not by any means, but it was definitely an uptick in competition from their previous victories. The Canucks were the other team during the Flyers three game winning streak I predicted Philly to lose to, and was thankfully proven wrong.
The low scoring affair had all of three moments, with Jamie McGinn, brother of current Flyers prospect Tye McGinn, putting Colorado on the board first. This was the lone goal of the first period, and was Colorado’s best of the game.
The only other incident in the first involved Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog’s cheapshot against Flyers rookie Michael Raffl, and frankly speaking, I’m a bit shocked the hit didn’t register at all with the referees. It featured everything that is the opposite of the Wilson-Schenn hit. Landeskog wasn’t playing the puck for starters, Raffl never saw him coming, and Gabriel elevated himself upward with a shoulder near Raffl’s head. At the very least, this should have been an interference call, but it exposed another issue, where the player doesn’t leave their feet, but they do “stretch” themselves to make contact in a focused fashion that makes it appear run of the mill. Landeskog did his best not to leave his feet but make himself taller and wound up smashing an unsuspecting Raffl’s face directly against the boards. This led to Raffl’s exit, and he is now diagnosed with a concussion.
The game was plenty chippy but no action came of it, and former Flyers forward Max Talbot made his presence felt, even knocking big Flyers defender Nick Grossmann out of his skates on a thunderous hit. There was a little bit of a side story involving Flyers forward Steve Downie and Talbot playing their former teams, but with the exception of a few amazing Varlamov saves on Downie, there wasn’t much of a tale to tell.
Really, that’s what the game boiled down to though, amazing saves. Varlamav just had to make one more than Mason did and that would be enough for the victory. The Flyers really turned things around after the first, pressuring the Avs, but time and again had nothing to show for it. A blemish, and possible cause of the futility may have been involving faceoffs. The Flyers were dreadful, racking up 43% of them, and in key moments no less. They lost the faceoffs in the Avs defensive zone at the end, and as a result never had an upper hand coming at the beginning of a play. They forced themselves to make adjustments on Avalanche faceoff wins and puck possessions, instead of putting Colorado on it’s heels.
Steve Mason was the unfortunate loser in this contest, and it was nothing more than a flukey tumbling goal by Avs forward Ryan O’Reilly that cost him the game. There is some comfort to take away from his performance, seeing as how Mason had looked a little like he was regressing. Seeing him kick out a bunch of should have been but weren’t goal opportunities, some equally as amazing as Varlamov’s was a relief of sorts.
The lone highlight to this game for Philly was Wayne Simmonds netting yet another goal, the man has been practically on fire the last couple of weeks, and really looks like he has meshed quite well with new linemate Scott Hartnell. It’s a bit odd seeing two net crashers syncing so nicely, but Hartnell is a decent passer, despite not really letting that aspect shine as often as he should.
Next up will be the Coyotes, and they play as hard as anyone in the league. Dave Tippett will have his men ready in Glendale for this one, and I’m hoping the Flyers don’t look too tired or this could get ugly. The Yotes will be missing their bright young defender Oliver-Ekman Larsson, so perhaps that may help even things out.
One last note, it might be helpful for Matt Read to return to the Flyers now, their depth is hurting a little after losing Raffl as well. Seeing Jay Rosehill on the same line with Giroux and Voracek was just…plain…weird.
*Photo courtesy of NHL.com
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