When pushing to make the playoffs, it’s probably a good idea to start playing your best hockey of the year. Despite rattling off an 8 game point streak thanks to the Bettman loser point, the Flyers have done the exact opposite. In the last handful of games their even strength play has cratered.
Outside of a 5 minute stretch in the first period, the ice was completely tilted in the Blue Jackets favor on Friday night.
Columbus easily won the chance battle in every single period. An inept Flyers team could only manage four 5v5 scoring chances in the final 40 minutes of play.
Home/Away Chance Locations
It was open season on Ray Emery in the low slot and crease. That this game even made it to overtime is a testament to how well Razor played between the pipes.
Is it fair to start sounding the alarm on the Flyers top line? They’ve been a shell of their former selves during this stretch run. Anemic offensively and porous defensively, the ice has been tilted dramatically in the wrong direction with the All-Stars on the ice.
The Umberger/Laughton/White combination has been a failure almost from it’s inception and that trend continued. Bellemare’s line, which has been a reliable offensive force for most of January/February, got absolutely mauled in this one.
On a positive note, Sean Couturier’s line managed to push the needle in the right direction despite their usual brutal defensive usage.
If you are looking for a singular reason why the Flyers got killed in the chance battle, his name is Brandon Dubinsky. Although Craig Berube didn’t have the benefit of last change, he still managed to steer his best defensive centers towards young Ryan Johansen.
Columbus’ most hyped goal scorer was played to a draw in the chance battle. But as result of the skewed match-ups, the criminally underrated Brandon Dubinsky was allowed to run roughshod over just about everyone.
If I’m forced to put words to this awful performance, everyone was bad but Schultz and Colaiacovo were slightly less bad. Not a single pair survived the Blue Jackets onslaught unscathed.
- Set Up – The primary pass on a scoring chance, including rebounds.
- Chance – The primary shot on a scoring chance, including deflections.
- Involved – The sum of both set ups and chances.
Individual performance of the night goes to the Wayne Train. What little offense the Flyers could generate came off the stick of Simmonds, and he was rewarded with 3 points on the score sheet.
