The Flyers and Capitals combined for just 18 even strength scoring chances in a sleepy Sunday afternoon game in Washington.
An evenly played game throughout, neither team had a decided advantage at 5v5. On the powerplay, the Capitals had numerous opportunities to do some damage. But given that they had 6 powerplays including a 5v3, the Flyers PK did an admirable job limiting their quality looks at the net.
Home/Away Chance Locations
Defensively, the Flyers did well keeping the Caps out of the crease and low slot areas.
It’s amazing how much the script has been flipped from earlier in the year. Giroux/Voracek have been legitimately struggling since the All-Star break. Meanwhile, the Lecavalier line is pacing the team offensively, albeit with generous offensive usage. Raise your hand if you expected Vinny Lecavalier to be leading the Flyers down the stretch run.
Also down in the dumps is the Scott Laughton grouping. For the second straight game, the Flyers de facto 4th line has put up a goose-egg in the chances for department despite relatively soft usage.
Barry Trotz took advantage of last change to get an advantageous match-up with the Fehr checking line thwarting Giroux and company offensively.
Chief made some slight adjustments to the forward lines before this game, demoting R.J. Umberger to the 4th line and moving up Wayne Simmonds to Couturier’s wing. The results were great for Couturier, with his line driving play despite a tough match up and heavily defensive usage. I’d love to see a few more games of this group together.
On the flip side, Berube’s new defensive combination of Grossmann and Andrew MacDonald has been exploited. In the last two games, this duo has been on the ice for the lions share of d-zone breakdowns.
- 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
Lecavalier, Bellemare, and Couturier are your three scoring chance stars of the game. Coots had a touch on every one of his line’s scoring chances, and assisted on Wayne Simmonds game winning goal.
Vinny and Pebbles combined for 3 glorious chances in close on Holtby. Although they didn’t come away with any points in this game, they were certainly deserving.
