There was hope this afternoon that some of the lingering offensive pressure from yesterday’s third period against the New Jersey Devils would carry over to today’s tilt against the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, the Flyers collectively could once again not produce a solid sixty minute effort, as the Rangers once again rolled by them by the tune of 5-2.
In what’s become all too familiar a pattern, the Rangers scored just 1:04 into the game. Defenseman Dan Girardi took a shot from the blue-line that was deflected by Artem Anisimov past Ilya Bryzgalov.
Brayden Schenn tied the game halfway through the first period, jumping out of the penalty box (from a ridiculous slashing call by the officials) and collecting a well-placed outlet pass from Jake Voracek that he would put past Henrik Lundqvist on the ensuing breakaway.
The team was all set to end the period when Bryzgalov, who had played very well up to that point, tried to poke-check the puck past Marian Gaborik. Gaborik tossed the puck under Bryzgalov’s arm and it trickled in.
Wayne Simmonds tied the game again on a powerplay at the beginning of the second period. The momentum didn’t last long, as Michael Del Zotto was allowed to skate into the Flyers’ zone on his own and took the lead for a third time. It wasn’t a “soft” goal, but it was one that Sean Couturier should never have been out of position to stop and Bryzgalov could have been better prepared for.
A 3-2 deficit is manageable, but Matt Carle single-handedly ended any comeback attempt after making a poor pass in the defensize zone right onto the stick of Brandon Prust. Prust fed the puck back to Brandon Dubinsky, a player who has become largely irrelevant this season, and Dubi beat Bryz clean.
Ruslan Fedotenko finished the game off with an empty net goal.
There aren’t many positives to take away from the loss. The passing was poor, the physical play was spotty and a number of players fanned on wide open shots. You aren’t going to get many opportunities on Lundqvist and it’s critical to make the best of them in the moments when he’s out of position.
Zac Rinaldo had a decent game, drawing two penalties before taking a weak one of his own. Tom Sestito, on the other hand, got into three fights, the third in which he resorted to pulling hair. I don’t think Sestito realized that three fights is an automatic game misconduct, as he put the team at a disadvantage by letting Prust goad him into a third scrap.
Bryzgalov was not the reason the Flyers lost, but he didn’t do them any favors either. He stopped 33 of 37 shots from the Rangers, who were buzzing the net much more often and early than the Flyers.
The Flyers have not had back-to-back losses since December 27. They have also not strung back-to-back wins since January 12 against the New York Islanders, who they play on Tuesday.
If Bryzgalov doesn’t get the start, then I don’t see how they earn his trust down the road.
For the latest Flyers news and updates, you can follow me on twitter (@JoshJanet).
Team has lost it’s focus and team chemistry.. They are a good candidate to get bounced out in the 1st Round of the Playoffs and even if they make it to the 2nd Round, they will be looking at the rangers/Bruins as possible Series Foes and they can’t beat either Team.. with the the Penquins and even the Devisl playing much better as the stretch runs begins, these Teams will most likely surpass the Flyers before the Season ends dropping the Flyers from a 3rd/4thSeed to proabably a 5th/6th Seed…
They need to start planning for the 2013 Season and get some young Defenseman and start trading some of the older players to other Teams making Playoff runs would be willing to overpay for a a Hartnell, Jagr, Brierre (if healthy) or a Timomen since it appears the Flyers are not going very far beyond the 1st Round and may not even make it out of the 1st Round
anyways and all 3 of these Players may not be in the Flyers future plans anyways.. Time to be a Seller is your the Flyers and keep an eye for the Future. The truth hurts, but the Flyers are just not a very good Team right now and with these injuries piling up, Shaky Goaltending, and a real lack of Defensive Depth, they are not going anywhere this 2012 Season anyways..
I hate to say it, but I’m with you Paulman. I don’t know where they will finish, but I have a hard time seeing them make a deep playoff run. The question now, though, is whether Paul Holmgren will trade players and picks now to try and boost this team for a playoff run or will he hold onto his assets to restock in the offseason?
To trade away picks for a Deep Playoff Run that is unlikley to occur is probably not the smart move for Holmgrem to make for the long term, the smart move would be moving some of the older players for young talent and picks for the future.. If they were getting stellar Goalie play and losing games 3-2, then I could see giving it a shot, but they are giving up lots of goals and see no realistic way that their Defense/Goalie play is going to get then very far come Playoff time they way that they have played all-season.. Their back-end is just medicore and will not be able to compete and against the top teams in the East down the stretch .. We’ll see what happens,but unless they can get some of these jkepy players back and playing well, it’s a long-shot at best..