It was an LA Confidential of sorts on Saturday night when two guys faced off on opposite ends of the country with something to prove. Mike Richards versus the Flyers and Bernard Hopkins versus a youthful Chad Dawson. Who would have expected that Hopkins would receive the first TKO of his career at the Staples Center and that Richards would assist in the Los Angles King’s 3-2 overtime win against his former team?
Thanks to Richards and his new team, the Philadelphia Flyers are once again one of the most penalized teams in the NHL and it’s costing them.
James van Riemsdyk took a penalty with 19.9 seconds left in regulation. The penalty carried into the overtime session and the Kings capitalized on their power play opportunity with Richards’ knockout assist, handing the orange and black their first loss of the season.
The Carolina Hurricanes (28) and the Dallas Stars (27), who have each played one more game than the Flyers, are the only two other teams in the league that have taken more penalties than Peter Laviolette’s team.
The orange and black are ranked 22nd out of 30 teams on the penalty kill with no shorthanded goals. They have 
successfully killed off 20 of those 25 penalties, but have let up at least one goal to the opposing team’s power-play unit in three of their first four games.
The Flyers only managed to keep the New Jersey Devils power-play unit off the board, but they are the 20th ranked power play in the league. In four games, the Flyers have spent a total of 40:15 just killing penalties, leaving the star players sitting on the bench and not getting any ice time. The less time the more skilled players are on the ice, the fewer goals a team is most likely to score.
The one good thing that is coming out of taking all the penalties is that two of the Flyers’ rookies are getting a chance to play. Sean Couturier is paired with Max Talbot, while Matt Read is on a line with Andreas Nodl. The more the kids are out there, the more comfortable they’ll feel. Most teams wouldn’t even think about using a rookie on the penalty kill, but Laviolette has the confidence in these two kids to let them play under pressure.
The orange and black have been in the penalty box more than they’ve drawn the other team into penalties. They’ve taken 25 penalties and have only had 24 power play opportunities of their own.
The penalty killers have certainly logged their ice time, but the power-play units need to be on the ice a lot more than they have been so far in the early going.
If the Flyers expect to have any kind of success this year, they must cut down on their time in the penalty box. . After all, it’s hockey not boxing.
A lot of things going on here. Lots of turnover on the roster. A lot of young players and frankly a lot of old players. This is something that I think that they will straighten out going forward.