Early Season Woes Come Back To Plague Flyers Again

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. In a matchup of the future, Carter Hart, vs a past mistake, Sergei Bobrovsky, the past came back to haunt the Flyers. The trade of Sergei Bobrovsky continues to haunt the Flyers, with the Flyers dropping to 4-13-0 again their former goalie.




Sean Couturier would continue break the Flyers 0 for 16 power-play streak late in the 1st period with his 14th of the season. Phil Varone would get his first goal in a Flyers uniform. James van Riemsdyk would continue his recent hot goal streak with his 4th goal in his last 8 games.

Carter Hart had his moments today. Making some impressive saves. But, also letting in a weak Blue Jackets 4th goal, the game-winner on the day. Hart stopped 15 of the 19 shots he faced today.

The early season woes of the Flyers came back to haunt them today.

Here are 4 more observations from the Flyers 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets…




Where Did The New Era Flyers Go?

In the first two games of the Flyers new era, the Flyers looked different. They were playing with speed, freshness, and a new found energy. But, today, that was non-existent.

Today, the Flyers looked slow, out of place, and just the lesser of the two teams. Credit to the Blue Jackets for the strong checking game today. But, the Flyers poor effort made the Blue Jackets look even better than they should have.

The reason Columbus won today was their goal-tending and ability to capitalize on the Flyers mistakes. Something the Flyers were doing against the Red Wings and Predators. But, today, the Flyers were unable to do that.

A learning lesson and a coaching point for new coach Scott Gordon to right the ship before the bad habits continue for the Flyers.




1st Line vs 1st Line Nightmare

When you look for key points to a game, you look for who outplayed who. Well, today, the Blue Jackets top line got the upper hand on the Flyers top line and it showed.

Every player on Columbus’s top line had multiple point games and a +3 rating. The Flyers top line? Well, let’s just say didn’t fair that well. The Flyers top line each had only one point games and a -3 rating.

Need a big shift in the game? The Blue Jackets top line had the extra jump today to give their team that shift. Unfortunately, for the Flyers, their top line was on the wrong end of 3 Blue Jackets goals. A big difference maker in the game.

A day where the Flyers first line struggled, they needed help from their secondary scoring. Which, in the end, wasn’t enough.




Power-Play Ends A Streak, Starts Another

The Flyers power-play has been awful all season. Scoring only 12 goals all season. Over their past 13 games, they are really 1 for 31. Including a 0 for 16 streak entering today.

However, the Flyers ended that 0 for 16 streak with a 1st period goal by Sean Couturier. Couturier put home a back-handed effort by Bobrovsky with 2 seconds left on the Flyers 1st power-play.

Key word there is 1st power-play. The Flyers power-play would go silent the rest of the game. Starting a new streak of 0 for 3. The Flyers had 10 power-play shots today. They scored on their 3rd power-play shot of the game. Not scoring on their final 7 shots over 3 power-plays.

Whether it is not high-quality shots or the goalie making a great save. For some reason or another the Flyers are having trouble putting away shots on the man-advantage.




Sergei Bobrovsky Continues To Haunt The Flyers

Let’s go back. It is June 22, 2012. The Flyers are coming off a season where new goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, was shaky at times. However, instead of putting pressure on him with young future star in the making, Sergei Bobrovsky, as his backup. The Flyers chose to trade BOB to the Blue Jackets.

A day that will go down in Flyers history for all the wrong reasons. A day that the Flyers are still regretting today especially with how the Bryzgalov era ended in Philadelphia.

Today, like 12 of the other 15 starts Bobrovsky has had against the Flyers, went in Bobrovsky’s favor. Bobrovsky made 34 saves in his 13 career win against the Flyers.

For his career, Bobrovsky is now 13-3-1 against the Flyers. A haunting number that continues to plague the team that traded him away 6 years ago.




Result : Flyers 3 – Blue Jackets 4, LOSS

Record : 14 – 16 – 4

Next Game : New York Rangers, New York NY, NBCSports Philadelphia 7:00pm