Five Flyers Observations : What The Hell Was That?

The Philadelphia Flyers lost a roller coaster of a game to the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-5 Saturdat afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.

After Tampa scored 2 power-play goals to start the 3rd period, the Flyers roared back with 4 unanswered in the last 10 minutes of play.

James van Riemsdyk got his 1st goal of the season on the power-play. Travis Konecny added 2 goals to end his 3- game goal-less streak. Wayne Simmonds added another goal to end his 6-game goal-less streak.

Calvin Pickard took the loss today. Stopping only 20 of the 26 shots he faced.

Here are 4 more observations from the Flyers 6-5 OT Loss to the Lightning…

Power-Play Finally Strikes

After starting November on a 1 for 20 stretch, the Flyers PP struck for 3 straight goals. The 3 power-play goals doubled the Flyers total over there last 45 opportunities.

Before the Flyers went 3 for 3, the power-play was 3 for their last 45. Now, you can say the power-play is back. However, all three goals came against a tired Lightning team.

Any who. The Flyers power-play is out of its slump. Lets hope it stays that way.

No 20-minute Game, Now Just 10?

Something the Flyers have been stuck with this season is 20-minute games. Game after game, the Flyers would be outplayed in the first two periods, then put out a 20 minute effort to make things interesting.

Today, the Flyers dominated play the whole game. However, the offense didn’t show up til the last 10 minutes of the game.

But, there is another, even more appalling stat in that domination. The Flyers are now 3-8-1 when controlling the puck battle in games. Normally when a team dominates, you are supposed to win.

Well, the Flyers like to do everything backwards and today was the same.

Ivan Provorov

Ever since Provorov was drafted, stardom has followed him. Whether it was his comparisons to other greats or just his projections. Provorov was seen as the Flyers savior on the backend.

However, after being the Flyers best all-around defensemen in his first two seasons, something isn’t right this season.

After being held scoreless in his first 6 games this season, it seemed Provorov was just having a bad time. Whether it was the turnovers or just his slow start, Provorov seemed to be turning it around.

But, over the past 5 games, Provorov has regressed again. Today, it got even worse. On Tampa Bay’s 3rd goal, Provorov was out muscled by a guy 35 pounds lighter than him.

Nobody knows if it is injury related. But, this is not the Ivan Provorov Flyers fans have gotten to know over the past 2 years. Something is wrong with the 3rd year pro.

Change On Its Way?

If the finally 5 minutes of the game said anything about the future. That future would say a change to the Flyers defense corps is on its way.

Something fans have been calling for a long time is more minutes for Travis Sanheim. Well, in crunch time, Dave Hakstol made the change and was running Hagg-Provorov and Gostisbehere-Sanheim with every other shift in the 3rd.

If he keeps those pairings, a lot of Flyers fans will be very happy with their head coach they hate more than they like.

Result : Flyers 5, Lightning 6, OT LOSS

Record : 9 – 9 – 2

Next Game : 11/21 Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo NY, NBCSports Philadelphia + 7:30pm