We hardly knew ye, Flyers winning streak.
Four consecutive victories went down the drain after Saturday’s clunker at the Wells Fargo Center.
“As a team, we took a little bit of a night off,” Brayden Schenn said following the Flyers’ ghastly 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Not good.
There was some good hockey played in their previous two games, however. So with that in mind, let’s take a look back at the Flyers’ week that was:
• Sick of hearing about Shayne Gostisbehere yet? Didn't think so. The kid pretty much has a guaranteed spot in this weekly feature. Not a game goes by without him doing something special. Sometimes it’s a head fake or nifty deke. Other times it’s his fancy footwork. He’s always doing something that makes your eyes pop. The elusive blueliner supplied the only highlight-reel worthy play for the orange and black in Saturday’s loss to the Blue Jackets. Gostisbehere showcased his explosive first step when he gained control of the puck in the defensive zone and skated end-to-end, cleanly entering the offensive zone. He then made a quick pass to Brayden Schenn along the boards and continued toward the net, drawing two defenders in his direction. With all eyes on Gostisbehere, Michael Raffl was able to sneak through an open lane and easily beat Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovsky off a brilliant feed from Schenn. Speed kills, and Gostisbehere has plenty of it. He’s far from a one-trick pony.
• One more point about Gostisbehere. (You’re not complaining are you?) I think it’s safe to label him as a “power-play specialist.” Armed with a cannon of a shot and moves that can deke penalty killers out of their jocks, the 22-year-old is arguably the Flyers’ most dangerous weapon on the man advantage. It’s easy to see why Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek love feeding him. He simply creates offense out of nothing. Gostisbehere is going to continue to garner attention, too. Don’t consider that a bad thing, though. It’s going to open up more opportunities for guys like Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn in front of the net. Defenders are bound to gravitate to a player like Gostisbehere. Giroux and Voracek, both highly-skilled passers, are going to take full advantage of that. We saw it first-hand on Simmonds’ PP marker against New Jersey. The Devils got caught cheating toward Gostisbehere and left Simmonds wide open on the back post. And we’ve already seen what happens when Gostisbehere has time and space while up a man. This top unit is suddenly scary again.
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• Now onto the not-so-hot second power-play unit. Yikes. What a mess. The Flyers rely on their top unit heavily. That’s nothing new. But would it hurt the backup guys to chip in now and again? The only Flyer not on the top unit to tally a PP goal this season is Sam Gagner. That says it all. Giroux, Voracek, Schenn, Simmonds and Gostisbehere — filling in for the injured Mark Streit — are going to eat up at least the first minute of power plays, sometimes more. The second unit is doing nothing with the ice time after that. It almost looks like they’re helping out the opposing team’s penalty killers. Ill-advised passes, poor shot selection, turnovers, you name it. It’s been that bad and it has to change.
• Need a reason why Evgeny Medvedev should be in the lineup every night? You shouldn’t but I’ll give you a few anyway. The veteran defenseman made a poor decision with the puck in his own zone against Ottawa and it resulted in a goal for the Senators. Not long after, the Russian responded with a blast from the blue line for his first career NHL goal. Aside from Gostisbehere and Michael Del Zotto, there’s not another defensemen on the Flyers’ roster that can make up for a miscue like that. He’s also a much better option on the second PP unit, which obviously needs help, than Brandon Manning. Medvedev is excellent in the cycle game. He can get pucks on net. He did it against New Jersey and the Flyers got a late goal. Remind me, why was he ever a scratch to begin with? Anyone else hear crickets?
• The Flyers went down early against New Jersey. Didn’t matter. They got the goal right back and even managed to take a 2-1 lead into the third period. The Flyers suffocated the Devils with speed and physicality on the forecheck and wreaked havoc in the offensive zone. It didn’t necessarily translate into goals but the Devils had no answers and found themselves pinned for nearly 40 minutes. The Flyers were clearly in control. Even after trading goals in the third and surrendering the game-tying marker in the final minute that forced overtime. Again, didn’t matter. The game never felt out of reach. The Flyers were resilient and exuded confidence. That’s why Matt Read was able to score in overtime. We haven’t seen much of that this season.
• The narrative that the Flyers’ winning streak came to an end solely because now-healthy forwards R.J. Umberger and Ryan White were re-inserted into the lineup is nonsense. I get that Colin McDonald and Nick Cousins provided a spark during the team’s four straight victories but, let’s be honest, they weren’t by any means a determining factor in any of those games. We’re talking about the fourth line here. Yes, McDonald and Cousins brought more speed to the lineup and did an admirable job on the forecheck. I liked their energy. But these bottom-six type forwards are somewhat interchangeable. Umberger and White are capable of providing the same type of game. These players aren’t expected to boast huge offensive numbers and are currently being asked to handle only eight to 10 minutes a night. They should, however, be held accountable for their play. If Umberger and White fail to acclimate themselves in their roles over the next few games, by all means switch things up. But don’t put the loss to Columbus on just their shoulders, even if they were ineffective. With the exception of Gostisbehere and Medvedev, no Flyer should be proud of their performance on Saturday.
• It’s tough to watch Jakub Voracek at even-strength right now. The 26-year-old is severely lacking confidence in his goal-scoring ability. Everything is pass-first. He just doesn’t want to shoot the puck. It’s even spilled over onto the power play. Voracek can get away with being a playmaker in that scenario because he’s setting up shop with talented teammates like Giroux and Gostisbehere. But in five-on-five play, Voracek is still stuck with bottom-six forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Chris VandeVelde. It’s not a good fit and Voracek has continued to look uncomfortable on that line. They’re doing a fine job on the forecheck but there’s just no finishing touch. Enough with the tinkering. Give Voracek something to work with.
• Radko Gudas finally got caught. The burly defenseman received his first NHL suspension — three games — for an unnecessary and illegal elbow delivered to the head of Ottawa forward Mika Zibanejad. The contact could’ve been avoided but Gudas, who can never seem to restrain himself from making contact, just had to try to finish his hit. There’s nothing wrong with being physical. Gudas just takes it too far sometimes. He consistently puts himself out of position while trying to land huge checks. Settle down and make the right play. The ban hurt the Flyers, too. Gudas was actually playing better hockey with Del Zotto on the team’s makeshift top pair. He was also fortunate Nick Schultz was able to return after missing just one game with an upper-body injury. With Gudas suspended, the Flyers were down to six healthy defensemen. He’s gotta be smarter. Pick your spots.
• After a bleak start to 2015-16, Luke Schenn has been flying under the radar as of the late. That’s a good thing. He hasn’t made many back-breaking mistakes in the defensive zone and has been eating some tough minutes for Dave Hakstol. His game can be underappreciated at times. Case in point? The breakout. Schenn can actually move the puck fairly well. He found Michael Raffl sneaking up the wing with nobody in front of him and placed a perfect puck onto Raffl’s blade for a breakaway attempt against Columbus. Unfortunately, Schenn went down with an apparent leg injury late in the third period on Saturday. Gudas has one more game remaining on his suspension, so the Flyers might be forced to call up a defenseman if Schenn is unable to go against the Islanders on Tuesday. Again, veteran Davis Drewiske is probably the safe bet but Mark Alt might receive some consideration as a replacement, as well. I don’t see prospects like Sam Morin or Robert Hagg receiving their first recalls quite yet. They still need some work. First, let’s find out Schenn’s status. An update is expected at some point Sunday.
• Saturday was a tough night in net for Steve Mason. His outing can probably be categorized as “so-so” at best. The Flyers got caught over-pursuing the puck after a turnover on Columbus’ first goal and left Mason with no help in front. The Blue Jackets’ second tally had to be frustrating, as well. After a failed clear, Jack Johnson fired a harmless shot toward the net but, for some reason, Scott Laughton tried to get his stick on the offering and it deflected past Mason. There’s absolutely no reason for Laughton to attempt to deflect the puck in that situation. Let your goalie handle it. That’s what he’s paid for. Then there was Nick Foligno's snipe in the second period. Some feel Mason should've made the save. I'm not so sure he ever had a chance to be honest. Foligno used Del Zotto as a screen and fired a wicked wrister over Mason's shoulder that went bar-down. That’s just an incredible shot. Either way, Mason didn't seem too pleased with his team's showing or even his own. Can’t blame him.