1-2-1. Not time to panic yet, patience is going to be key with this team. Let’s do a run through of some key notes through the first four matches of the season.
Our second line is going to be our most productive line this season. They have combined for a total of 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) so far. There seems to be some great chemistry here between Konecny - Couturier - Voracek. Great passing, positional awareness, and tremendous effort in spreading out the defense while maintaining control of the puck.
Giroux leads the team in points so far (5), all of them off assists. I love a captain that gets scoring chances set up. But I also love a captain who can score. Got to hope G-Mula nets one in the next couple of matches.
Matt Read has four goals. Yes. You read that correctly. Four goals! The 30-year-old forward was written off by many (including myself) after last season, but the man is looking like his 11’-14’ self again. Let’s hope his offensive production continues as the season progresses.
Ivan Provorov made some pretty awful rookie mistakes the past two games. Bad turnovers and poor positioning really stood out, especially when the opposing team was able to capitalize. But have no fear Flyers fans, I am a firm believer in this being a blessing in disguise. He is letting these mistakes ride early on, will learn from them, correct them, and then not make them come crunch time later this season. Breathe everyone, breathe.
Mark Streit (38 years old) is trying to be way too aggressive while being paired with rookie Ivan Provorov. Let Ivan pull up on the puck, and have Mark stick back to play smart positional cover. It’s not that hard to figure out here Mark, come on.
Neuvy and Mason have had their fair share of good moments, but they have also had some bad moments as well. I personally am still on team Mason – and I am going to stick with that regardless of some questionable goals given up in Arizona. Regardless, both of these goaltenders haven’t had the best defense in front of them either.
Brandon Manning is another surprise in these first four games. I had him packing his bags for Lehigh come the return of Radko Gudas – but with his current performance (+3 overall), I don’t see that happening any longer.
VandeVelde is still on the team for some reason. I guess his PK is decent, but he also takes dumb penalties a lot so these factors essentially negate one another. You have to assume this is 100% a Hakstol move keeping him in the lineup since coaching him at North Dakota.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has proved he can be a 3rd line center, leading the team with a 54.5 faceoff percentage. But if everyone on the roster was in full health/not suspended – I would prefer him to head back to the 4th line and just be used for faceoffs on our 2nd powerplay line.
Overall team performance has been slow. This is nothing new for this club as slow starts are common place year in and year out. Our neutral zone breakouts and powerplay’s have been abysmal so far…
On the neutral zone breaks, we’re not doing enough. Space has to be created but that can’t happen when dump and chase is our go to. Especially when big teams like Anaheim pressure our entrances rather than letting us walk in. This all stems from the breakout – it needs to be fixed.
Our powerplay has shown to be pretty pathetic so far given our opportunities. We started to see some magic against the Blackhawks, less pass-catch between Giroux and Ghost, and more cycling. Wayne is doing his thing in front of the net, and now that Schenn is back – there is no excuse to get everyone involved, and quickly! Also to note on PP1 – the cross ice passes from Giroux to Voracek need to stop. This has not been fact checked, but I bet the percentage of times this actually leads to a goal with Voreck on that side of the Umbrella is less then 1%. Because it happens so often, but succeeds so little.
Let’s examine this further with a breakdown.
Now, for all you politically correct hooligans out there - before I get into detail here, they actually did score on this particular play last night. But I promise you, the numbers behind this play are just horrendous…anyway.
As you can see in the picture above, Giroux maintains possession of the puck along the half boards after everyone has set up in their perspective zones for the man advantage. The order of his pass options are listed by safest outcome (determined by how many defenders are covering the passing lane and distance that the puck has to travel). Now, I understand that the umbrella format is set so that the player with the puck has options, and if one way doesn’t work – then you give a different option a look. But one option here just doesn’t make sense against NHL defenses. #4, the cross ice pass to Jake Voracek, is not only going through two defensemen (most of the time), but it also has the farthest to travel and with little room for error. If one of these two defensemen reads the pass, and Ghost is closer to the board on the blue line, chances are that he will get a chance at a shorthanded goal on a breakaway. In 2015-2016, shootout percentages(basic principles of a breakaway opportunity) had a 27.6% success rate. That is a huge chance given to the opposition! Say what you will about analytics, but this option needs to be taken out of Giroux’s playbook.
As said earlier, patience with this team is key. Rookies, injuries, suspensions, constant line tweaking, back and forth goaltenders…it’s going to take a while for this squad to come together with some overall chemistry. But the talent is there, that is for sure. It is only a matter of time before coach Dave Hakstol gets this group clicking on all levels. Next game is this Saturday at home against the inner division Carolina Hurricanes.