The Great White North wasn’t too kind to the Flyers.
They were handed losses in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary before snapping a six-game losing streak with an inspiring effort in Winnipeg.
With the Flyers set to return home, here are 10 observations from the week that was:
• How incredible has Michal Neuvirth been? With Steve Mason ill, Neuvirth stepped in and started the final three games of the Flyers’ four-game trek across Canada. He was spectacular in Edmonton and Calgary but was on the hook for pair of losses thanks to the Flyers’ anemic offense. He wasn’t going to be denied in Winnipeg, however. Neuvirth turned aside all 28 shots he faced to pick up his NHL-leading third shutout of 2015-16. To put that in perspective, the Flyers had just three shutouts all of last season — all credited to Mason, who lost two of those starts because of the shootout. Neuvirth is now 3-2-1 with a .945 save percentage and 1.81 goals-against average in his first eight appearances in orange and black. Not bad for a guy who was signed to be the team's backup. He’s dialed in and certainly deserving of more starts moving forward.
• The Flyers have had their issues with consistency in their own zone this season but the defensive unit almost took a significant blow Saturday. Michael Del Zotto appeared to injure his right leg in the second period against Winnipeg and needed help getting off the ice, refusing to put any pressure on his leg. Fortunately, Del Zotto was able to walk it off in the dressing room and returned to the game shortly after. Whew. The Flyers are already without puck-moving defenseman Evgeny Medvedev, so a serious injury to Del Zotto could have been catastrophic. Del Zotto has logged the most total ice time this season among any Flyer (325:36) and averages a team-high 23:15 TOI per game. He's also tasked to play tough minutes on special teams, averaging 3:03 of shorthanded ice time per contest. And at even strength, only Mark Streit plays more than Del Zotto. That sound you're hearing is a deep sigh of relief from head coach Dave Hakstol.
• It's no coincidence the Flyers have played much better defensively with Sean Couturier back in the lineup. The fifth-year pivot returned from a concussion Thursday against Calgary and brought a calming influence in all phases of the game. He's almost singlehandedly turned around the penalty kill, too. The Flames went 0 for 2 on the man advantage and failed to record a single shot. On Saturday, Winnipeg was held to just eight shots in five power-play attempts. The big reason? You guessed it: Couturier. He's logged over five minutes of PK time over the past two games and has been particularly strong in terms of puck retrieval. As often is the case, many fans and critics are still clamoring for more offense from Couturier. But when he's this good defensively, any goals or assists he chips in are really just a bonus. The guy is making an impact. It just doesn’t show up on the scoresheet.
• I wouldn’t be surprised if Vinny Lecavalier has played his last game in a Flyers uniform. At this point, there’s really no need to dress him unless injuries pile up. He’s a complete liability. Case in point? Thursday night. It was embarrassing. The veteran forward made a poor, and somewhat questionable, pass to Brandon Manning on the point that resulted in a turnover and a Josh Jooris goal for the Flames. To make matters worse, he did the same exact thing on a separate power play later in the game that led to another odd-man rush. He was also caught dogging it on the backcheck. Then there was the whole baseball swing he took at a puck in the air that nearly decapitated Brayden Schenn. You can’t even blame Hakstol for benching Lecavalier, who played just four minutes. He clearly doesn’t have much to offer anymore.
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• It was just one game but the Flyers showed signs that their power play is ready to breakout. The top PP unit looked fantastic in a 3-0 win over the Jets. In the first period, Claude Giroux made a fancy no-look pass to Brayden Schenn, who quickly fired a one-timer from the left circle past Ondrej Pavelec for an early 1-0 lead. Wayne Simmonds added another tally on the man advantage later in the game and the Flyers finished 2 for 5 with 10 shots on goal overall on the PP. What was especially encouraging was their puck movement. Everything was crisp and on the tape. During their 0 for 16 slide prior to Saturday, the Flyers were sloppy. It seemed like they would get set up, try to force a pass that would result in a turnover and never regroup. Not against Winnipeg. They were confident with all of their decisions. It’s not like the Jets are a poor penalty-killing team, either. They rank 13th in the NHL while down a man. It was nice to see the floodgates finally open because the Flyers are going to need power-play production if they want to be successful. Their even-strength play has left much to be desired.
• Can we talk about Giroux’s goal against the Canucks? It was flat-out ridiculous. The Flyers’ captain fought off defenseman Matt Bartkowski with his right hand on the rush, maintained possession with just his left hand on his stick while Bartkowski basically jumped on his back, then deked forehand to backhand to beat Ryan Miller for one of the best markers of the early season. That’s really the only positive you can take away from Monday’s game in Vancouver. And what a positive it was.
• The defense in front of Neuvirth on Edmonton’s first goal Tuesday was comically bad. Not one player did anything to help clear the crease.They honestly looked like they were just waiting for the horn to sound to end the first period. That's unacceptable. I don’t care if they were on the penalty kill or not. Chris VandeVelde, Ryan White, Radko Gudas and Del Zotto all had a chance to tie someone up or capture the puck. Instead, they let Neuvirth sprawl around until Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finally scored with four seconds in the frame. It looked as bad as it sounds.
• Let’s take a second to praise Matt Read for a mammoth individual effort at the end of Saturday’s game. The 29-year-old put himself in a great position to block a shot, outskated the speedy Mathieu Perreault for a loose puck in the neutral zone and made sure he was across the center ice line before he fired a backhanded shot at Winnipeg’s empty net so the play wouldn’t result in an icing call. That’s just heads-up hockey. Oh, and Read’s offer did find its way to the back of the net for a well-deserved marker. Great stuff.
• Hakstol and the NHL are still adjusting to three-on-three overtime. I get that. You have to figure out personnel, if you can work set plays and other factors. That’s fine. But I’m not sure I agree with sending Couturier and Simmonds, two of the weaker skating forwards on the Flyers' roster, out as an offensive pair. That’s what Hakstol did against Calgary and it came back to bite him. The Flames countered with speed by starting Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund and the game was over 35 seconds into OT. With that much open ice, you need to have skilled players who can recover quickly. Read may have been a better option to skate with Couturier, for example. Just a thought.
• One final note: The Flyers were whistled for their third bench minor of the season in Thursday’s loss to Calgary. That’s something that just can’t happen. It just goes to show that they’re not paying enough attention to their surroundings. Hakstol took part of the blame for that, as he should, but this has been a problem for quite some time. The Flyers finished tied for third in the NHL with 12 bench minors last season. It’s just inexcusable.