What we learned from the Flyers 4-0 loss to the Jets

2 years ago  /  Broad Street Hockey

Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images


Some observations for your morning... Another day, another matchup between two teams out of the playoff race, and it’s all going just about as well as we might expect. After putting up something of a flat showing and falling 3-1 to the Blackhawks on Monday, they followed up with *drumroll* and even flatter showing and a 4-0 loss to the Jets last night.
All stats via Natural Stat Trick.
Yawn
The overall numbers here to shake out better for the Flyers than they did in Chicago. The Flyers put up adjusted 51.56 CF% and 50.62 xGF%, so while they didn’t run away with this one, they did get the better of the share of chances in this one, at 5-on-5 at least.
But, that said, that doesn’t mean that there was a ton of offense happening for them either. All told, the Flyers put up 22 scoring chances and seven high danger chances at 5-on-5, and even those numbers just feel like more than we really saw. The line of Cates, Frost, and Tippett looked sharp again and got some good looks (those three combined for eight of those scoring chances) but we’d be hard pressed to say that the team as a whole looked terribly threatening across much of this game. It’s not been a terribly fun way to wind down this season, and while it’s understandable that the team has gotten to this point, we still hope to see a little bit more in their final game tomorrow.
Not much doing on the power play
The Flyers’ offense struggled some at 5-on-5, and things did not go any better for them on the power play. Just look at their very first attempt in the first period as evidence of this—they had a full two minutes to work with continuously, and they were outshot 2-0 by the Jets on their own man-advantage.
In fairness, this was the low point for them, but things still went pretty poorly for them on the whole in their four power play attempts. They had 6:27 of 5-on-4 time to work with, and they totaled just five shots on goal and two high danger chances in that time. And none of this is really a surprise, we know the power play has been a particular weak point for the Flyers all season, and we’re not expecting to flip a switch and see it finally clicking in the last week of the season. But man, it really is still brutal to watch.
Another note on discipline
As was the case in Chicago on Monday, discipline turned out to be an issue for the Flyers again. We saw them take four more stick infractions, and then a messy line change left them caught with too many men on the ice. Everything’s just getting a bit sloppier, and they’re getting burned for it.
The penalty kill last night also didn’t fare as well as they did in their last showing. The Flyers at 4-on-5 only played 4:43, but allowed five scoring chances and two high danger chances, and were scoring on once. They gave the Jets further 5-on-3 time to work with and were scored on there are well. It felt like that was bound to happen, the penalty kill wasn’t going to be perfect down this stretch and with the volume of opportunities they have been giving opponents, they were going to start converting eventually, and last night was it.
Felix Sandstrom is doing his best
There’s a tough situation going on here wherein the team is just barely inching towards the finish line of the season, just trying to get through these last games, and the offense is starting to look anemic, but there is still a hope that the team can keep pucks out of their own net to keep from getting absolutely blown out. And for Felix Sandstrom, still on emergency recall and getting his second start in a row, that’s a tough situation to be thrown into. And despite what the stat line (three goals against on 26 shots) might tell us, it’s hard to be too fussed about his play on the whole. He has two true NHL defensemen playing in front of him, and two more who are still officially on emergency recall as well. He’s not getting a whole lot of help right now. He’s hanging in there well enough, despite the circumstances, and that still deserves a bit of recognition.
*Phoebe Bridgers voice* the end is near
Yeah, that makes two wholly uninspiring games in a row for the Flyers, and this race to the end of the season has slowed to a crawl. Thanks to everyone who’s sticking around with us through this stretch, it’s been... something.
The good news, though, is that the last game of the season is right around the corner. The Flyers will close out the season back at home on Friday against, you guessed it, another non-playoff team in the Ottawa Senators. We’ll see you then. ...

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