Capitals- 1- Flyers- 0- Post-Game Recap

January 15th, 2015 by Kyle Lutz | Filed under Flyers, General, Hockey.

Team Stats

Phi Was
Shots on Goal 21 26
1st 7 8
2nd 7 13
3rd 7 5
Power Plays 3 2
Converted 0 0
Power Play % 0% 0%
Penalty Minutes 4 6
Faceoffs Won 25 34
Faceoff % 42% 58%
Hits 25 24
Blocks 14 23

(Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

The Flyers put forth a solid, all-around effort last night, although they didn’t come away with any points to show for it.

Washington goalie Braden Holtby, making his 20th-consecutive start in net, stopped all 21 Flyers’ shots on the night, 17 of which were at even strength. With the victory, Holtby improved his record this year to 22-8-7. This was his fourth shutout of the year and the 15th of his five-year career. Counting last-night’s win, Holtby’s now won six out of his last seven starts, dating back to New Year’s Day- he’s only allowed 13 goals in those seven games.

Impressively so, Washington’s now 24-11-8 on the year, good enough for third in their division and fifth overall in the conference, meanwhile the Flyers are now 17-20-7. Washington’s now won three-straight games, six out of their last seven, and they’ve earned at least a point in nine-straight games and 19 out of their last 20. Not only are they hot as they’ll ever be this season, but they’re solid on all-three sides of the puck this year. During their three-game home-stand, which ended after the game last night, they outscored the opposition 6-2.

Both teams’ power-play units have been solid this year, as they both ranked — coming into last-night’s game — within the top five in the league in percentage, though they were a combined 0/5 on the night. In their last-five games, Washington’s gone 3/12 on the man advantage, while Philadelphia’s impressively gone 6/21 (29%), including 3/4 two-games ago in their 7-2 win vs. Tampa Bay. This year, Philadelphia’s ranked fifth in the league on the man advantage, at 23.3%, while Washington’s converted 24% of their power-play chances, just ahead of Philadelphia and good enough for fourth overall.

On the night, the Flyers’ top line — consisting of Brayden Schenn, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek — combined for six shots, two hits, one penalty, four blocked shots and one giveaway, in a ice-time average just over 20 minutes. Giroux alone had 22:37 minutes of ice time, which ranked him second on the team, a second behind Mark Streit’s 22:38. Giroux struggled on face-offs, having only won 8/21 (38%), and was 0/2 in face-offs against Brooks Laich.

One of the big plays of the game, in terms of impact and notability, was Washington’s Matt Niskanen’s jarring second-period hit on Flyers’ rookie center Scott Laughton. After the collision, one that occurred in the Flyers’ defensive zone, Laughton’s helmet went flying, and Niskanen outweighs him, too, by a significant margin. The hit sent Laughton to the Flyer’s locker room with 2:50 left in the period, one of which he did not return from on the night. In his post-game remarks to the media, Flyers’ GM Ron Hextall didn’t say much, only that Laughton’s injury was an upper-body one. If Laughton is sidelined for tonight’s game, most likely, Zac Rinaldo will replace him, except he’ll be on the fourth line, as opposed to the second line.

After the hit occurred, Flyers’ head coach Craig Berube was not at all upset by it, but instead focused on the positives; his team’s response and energy afterwards.

“I don’t know what you want them to do,” Berube said. “I mean, they responded and played. Played hard.”

Although it’s rarely said about them in this day and age, the Flyers’ defense, collectively, played solid, especially on breakouts. Defenseman Carlo Colaicovo got the start for the first time in 27 games. This year, the Flyers are just 2-16-3 when scoring two or fewer goals/game. Last-night’s loss was also the first time in over two decades, since 1989, that the Flyers lost a 1-0 game to Washington. Back then, the two teams were in the same division, in the Patrick Division, before they both realigned and made their way into the then-newly-formed Atlantic Division four-years later. 

As for Washington defensively, defenseman Jack Hillen and Brooks Orpik blocked nine shots, and even more impressively for Hillen was the fact that he had four blocked shots in just 14:04 minutes. The 34-year-old Orpik has seemed to fit in nicely this year with his new team, after being signed by Washington last July. Previously, he spent his first-11 years with Pittsburgh, who drafted him 18th overall in 2000.

It’s evident this year that Braden Holtby has vastly improved in the puck-handling department, as he’s more confident and relaxed when handling the puck behind the net in his trapezoid. Additionally, his overall game has elevated, too, from previous seasons- he’s only 25-years old, and only getting better. He stonewalled the Flyers constantly on the night, especially on their East-to-West and power-play shots, though their overall shot total is misleading.

Meanwhile, on the flip side, due to starter Steve Mason’s recent injury, Flyers’ goalie Rob Zepp was — again — recalled from the Phantoms and got the start between the pipes; only his third-career start. Zepp was equally solid in net, as he was extremely patient and consistent all-game long. The lone goal allowed by Zepp/either team occurred early on, at 3:13 in the first, when Capitals’ left-winger Jason Chimera redirected a Matt-Niskanen shot from the point. On the play, Chimera positioned himself perfectly, working his way into the slot, ahead of Flyers’ defenseman Mark Streit and in front of Zepp- weakening the latter’s point-of-view. Mason suffered a week-long injury five-days ago vs. Boston on Saturday, and it’s indefinite as to whether or not he’ll return Saturday, to start, for the game at Buffalo.

Soon after the news, the Flyers ruled his injury as a lower-body one, which was initially ruled as a two-week injury — timetable wise — but one that has progressed slightly since then, in terms of his return. Mason left the Boston game in the first period, and afterwards he said that it was a knee issue, and an MRI on it soon after, thankfully, revealed no significant damage to it. Thankfully, in relief, Zepp has filled in nicely, allowing only four goals on 50 total shots- for a save percentage of .920.

Back to Chimera, among other lines, Washington’s fourth line played solid in the victory, earning the only points on the night. Chimera, as mentioned, scored the lone goal, yet only played in 7:56 minutes of ice time, and he had two shots and three hits, too. Meanwhile, his center, Jay Beagle, had two shots, and a takeaway and blocked shot each, in just under 14 minutes, while his right-winger, Tom Wilson, had three hits in just 8:45 minutes of ice time. Meanwhile, the Flyers’ fourth line compiled three shots, five hits and two blocked shots- as a line, they averaged just under 13 minutes of ice time in the game.

These two teams last played a week ago at Philadelphia, a game in which the Flyers won 3-2 in overtime. These two teams will play again in three weeks from now, at Washington, on Sunday February 8th. They’ll conclude their season series two weeks after that game, on February 22nd at Philadelphia. Up next, to begin a two-game road trip, Washington will travel tomorrow to Nashville for a prime-time (NHL Network), Friday-night game vs. Predators’ coach/former-Flyers’ coach Peter Laviolette. So far this season, Nashville has the best record in the league– with a 29-9-4 record and 62 total points.

Nashville’s just as hot as Washington, too, having won four-straight games, and they’re 7-1-2 — like Washington is — in their last-10 games, too. From here on out, next the Flyers will return home tonight for a game against Vancouver, before they head back on the road again on the weekend.

With Mason out, in his absence, hopefully Rob Zepp can continue to pick up the slack, as they move forward into the weekend. With Zepp’s solid night last night and Emery’s recent struggles, I would assume Zepp would get the nod tonight vs. Vancouver, who are a very-solid, all-around team this year (23-15-6), ranking third — at 87% — in the penalty kill. In Emery’s last-11 games, he’s only 3-8, while he’s allowed three-or-more goals on eight occasions, and his goals against average is just 3.59.

He’ll need to be way better from here on out, presumably as Mason’s backup once he returns, if he wants to retain his job over Zepp. Perhaps the latter’ll light a fire under the former’s ass, and motivate him to play better and, thus, hold on to his job. If not, Zepp, as the backup, will do. Emery’s currently in the midst of a one-year contract, one that’s paying him only $1 million.

Heading into tonight’s match-up vs. Vancouver, a good match-up will be the Flyers’ consistent, hot power-play vs. Vancouver’s PK. Thankfully, after the tough match-up tonight vs. Vancouver, the Flyers will face a way-below average Buffalo team on Saturday, who’s just 14-27-3 this year. This season, Buffalo ranks dead last in the NHL in: goals for/game (1.7), goals against/game (3.4), and on the power-play (9%). Despite the loss Wednesday, hopefully the Flyers can continue their strong play into tonight’s game, and hopefully — overall — string a few wins together, too, heading into next-week’s games.

Line Combinations/Defensive Pairings

LW C RW
Brayden Schenn
Brayden Schenn
Claude Giroux
Claude Giroux
Jakub Voracek
Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl
Michael Raffl
Scott Laughton
Scott Laughton
Wayne Simmonds
Wayne Simmonds
R.J. Umberger
R.J. Umberger
Sean Couturier
Sean Couturier
Matt Read
Matt Read
Chris VandeVelde
Chris VandeVelde
Vincent Lecavalier
Vincent Lecavalier
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare
Defensive Pairings
Mark Streit
Mark Streit
Andrew MacDonald
Andrew MacDonald
Michael Del Zotto
Michael Del Zotto
Nick Schultz
Nick Schultz
Luke Schenn
Luke Schenn
Carlo Colaiacovo
Carlo Colaiacovo
LW C RW
Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin
Nicklas Backstrom
Nicklas Backstrom
Andre Burakovsky
Andre Burakovsky
Marcus Johansson
Marcus Johansson
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Brooks Laich
Brooks Laich
Eric Fehr
Eric Fehr
Joel Ward
Joel Ward
Jason Chimera
Jason Chimera
Jay Beagle
Jay Beagle
Tom Wilson
Tom Wilson
Defensive Pairings
Brooks Orpik
Brooks Orpik
John Carlson
John Carlson
Karl Alzner
Karl Alzner
Matt Niskanen
Matt Niskanen
Jack Hillen
Jack Hillen
Mike Green
Mike Green

Scratches

* Flyers’ fourth-line center, and enforcer, Zac Rinaldo was the only healthy scratch for the team on the night. With the scratch last night, Rinaldo’s been scratched from the lineup for the past-five games, and 12 out of the last 13. His last start came in a 5-2 loss on January 3rd at New Jersey. Rinaldo being constantly scratched so far this season seems to be a plausible byproduct of the Flyers’ coaches and management wanting to shy away from the gritty style that Rinaldo brings to the table/fourth line. In 32 games this season, he has no goals, one assist, 44 penalty minutes and a +/- rating of -9. Vincent Lecavalier, who’s been bounced around and in and out of the lineup a lot this year, filled in for him at center.

Scratches
# Pos Name
5 D BRAYDON COBURN
36 C *ZAC RINALDO
35 G STEVE MASON
# Pos Name
46 C MICHAEL LATTA
61 D STEVE OLEKSY

Three Stars

01. Braden Holtby- Washington- G- 21 SV/21 SA
02. Rob Zepp- Philadelphia- G- 25 SV/26 SA
03. Jason Chimera- Washington- LW- 1 G/P, +1, 2 SOG, 3 Hits, 

 

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