Postgame RAV4: Flyers Drop 5-1 Decision to Pittsburgh

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1, at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday evening. Special teams play was the big difference. The Penguins went 3-for-4 on the power play. The Flyers (1-for-7) did not capitalize on enough of their own opportunities.

Sidney Crosby (17th goal of the season) got Pittsburgh off to a 1-0 lead in the first period. In the second period, Tyson Foerster (PPG, 10th) cashed in on a 5-on-3 power play to knot the score at 1-1.] Foerster left the game with an injury shortly after the Philadelphia power play resumed.

Crosby (PPG, 18th) restored a 2-1 edge for Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh power play struck again as Bryan Rust (PPG, 8th) extended the lead to 3-1 in the latter stages of the second period. Thomas Novak (PPG, 3rd) made it 4-1 in the third period.

Former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes (2nd) added further damage in the latter stages of the third period.

Dan Vladar made 22 saves on 27 shots. Tristan Jarry stopped 28 of 29 shots.

First period synopsis

Bobby Brink had a pair of early scoring chances for the Flyers. On the first one, he received a lead pass from Emil Andrae and went around defenseman Kris Letang. At the other end, Crosby had the first shot for Pittsburgh.

Jarry made two saves as Owen Tippett led Cam York on a 2-on-1.

The Flyers went to the power play at 6:59. Blake Lizotte went off for slashing Garnet Hathaway: closer to a spear in reality. Philadelphia generated pressure near the end but didn't score.

With play back at 5-on-5, Crosby potted a Bryan Rust rebound for a 1-0 lead at 9:18. Vladar had the rebound go off his chest. The assists went to Rust and Anthony Mantha. The goal came on Pittsburgh's fifth shot of the game.

Vladar fought off traffic and stopped a shot with Rust screening. Shots on goal were now even at 8-8. On their next foray, Pittsburgh very nearly scored but Andrae swept the puck away.

Overall, there wasn't much structure or flow to the first period. It was a rather disjointed frame for both teams. The Flyers didn't manage the puck particularly well. Philly had seven turnovers: five giveaways plus two takeaways by the Penguins. Two turnovers led to Pittsburgh scoring chances.

Shots: Flyers 8 - Penguins 8

Faceoffs: Flyers 9 - Penguins 8

Notable:

• Rodrigo Abols went 4-for-4 on faceoffs. Noah Cates was 1-for-6.
• Brink had three of the Flyers' six shots on goal. All came within the opening six minutes of the frame.
• Hathaway was credited with five hits.

Second period synopsis

Travis Konecny hit the post on a golden scoring chance. Moments later, at 3:40, Erik Karlsson tripped Konecny and went to the penalty box. The Flyers went to a 5-on-3 for 1:17 on an interference penalty drawn on Connor Clifton by Matvei Michkov at 4:23.

On a delayed Pittsburgh penalty on Letang with the Flyers still on a 5-on-3 power play, Foerster fired off a shot and scored with Michkov going to the back door at 5:36. The assists went to Konecny and Trevor Zegras.

The Flyers remained on a 5-on-3. They were unable to score again to take the lead. With play at 5-on-4, Ben Kindel very nearly scored a shorthanded goal. Additionally, Foerster went to the locker room with an apparent upper-body injury suffered as he attempted to fire off a one-timer.

Abols was called for a holding penalty at 7:60. Eighteen seconds later, Crosby scored his second goal of the game. The assists went to Rust and Karlsson.

Couturier was called for a holding penalty at 15:20. The Penguins one again scored on their power play. Rust scored off the top of the post and into the net at 15:52. Evgeni Malkin and Karlsson earned the assists.

At 17:12, Crosby tripped Andrae and took a penalty. With 42 seconds left on the Philadelphia power play, Andrae was called for interference right after breaking his stick on a shot attempt. Ninety seconds remained in the second period.

Except for the temporary reprieve of Foerster's 5-on-3 power play goal, very little went the Flyers' way.

Shots: Flyers 6 (14 overall) - Penguins 9 (17 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 7(16 overall) - Penguins 10 (18 overall)

Notable:

• Foerster (8:50 TOI, two shots on net, one goal) was unable to return to the game.
• Cates won three of four faceoffs in this period.

Third period synopsis

Karlsson hit the post during the carryover power play time. Vladar gloved down a Crosby one-timer.

At 1:45, with play back at 5-on-5, Malkin made contact with Vladar on an apparent goal. The Flyers challenged the play for goaltender interference. The challenge was upheld and the goal came off the board. The score remained 3-1.

The Flyers went to their sixth power play when Ville Koivunen interfered with Brink. Philly lost the first faceoff and it took some time to get set up. Pittsburgh later had a pair of zone clears. Late in the advantage, a Jamie Drysdale shot attempt was blocked out of play.

Jarry made a stick save on a Zegras deflection of an Andrae shot. The Flyers generated some forechecking pressure over the next two shifts. Shots were 9-7 Flyers midway through the period.

Michkov was called for a slashing minor at 12:03. Novak scored off Vladar's glove at 13:51. Letang and Malkin drew the assists. At 15:33, Hayes took a lead pass from Parker Wotherspoon and moved in to score.

The Flyers had a 10-second power play to finish the game.

Shots: Flyers 15 (29 overall) - Penguins 11 (27 overall)

Faceoffs: Flyers 9 (27 overall) - Penguins 10 (28 overall)

Notable:

• Indicative of the team's puck management issues in this game, the Flyers had 27 turnovers on the night (20 charged giveaways, seven Pens takeaways).
• Zegras led all players with six shots on goal. Crosby had five for Pittsburgh.

Flyers Starting Lineup

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Owen Tippett
Tyson Foerster - Noah Cates - Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov - Sean Couturier - Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin - Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Balancing energy and discipline

The Flyers never really got in sync in this game. It wasn't so much a lack of discipline as lack of execution. That said, Couturier's second period penalty was far from his own end of the ice, and proved costly. It was also not up to the level of goaltending performances that Vladar has typically provided this season.

2. Key game for Konecny

The two-time Bobby Clarke Trophy winner had two shots on goal and one assist. He engaged in several chirping battles. No one on the Flyers made a major impact on this game once Foerster was lost.

3. Cates vs, Crosby

There was no holding back the Penguins' captain on this night. Crosby was Johnny-on-the-spot all night.

4. Early/late period goals.

This was not a factor in the development of Monday's game. Special teams were the determining factor.