Flyers need desperation

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Flyers have looked to be the dominate team in the East for over half the season.   But after another sloppy loss (2-1) to their rival, the Boston Bruins, they’re limping their way to the finish line.
After a brief hiccup to start the season, the Flyers went on a tear, and rose to the top of the Eastern Conference.   In the early part of the season, they played a strong style of hockey that saw them score 5, 6, 7, and even 8 goals a single night.   If one line wasn’t scoring, another would pick up the slack.  
They boast six players with 20 or more goals on the season.   But in their last 14 games, they’ve only scored four goals in four of those games.   The exclamation point on that stat was the 7-0 drubbing at the hands of the NYRangers, on March 6.
So, what happened?   Veteran defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, had a few thoughts after Sunday night’s game.
“We only got seven games left and we can’t go into the playoffs playing up and down hockey,” said the 36-year-old Fin. “It’s not gonna work. They were a better team. They had more energy. They deserved two points.
“It’s an individual thing. If you’re not prepared to play, it’s hard to ramp it up. It’s one of those things. You got to come to the rink and be ready to play. I’m not saying we played bad but we could have done a better job.”
The veteran went on to say, “We were not up to that [tonight].   Some lines generated. Mike’s [Richards] line probably generated the most. But as a group, we need to go over the boards and consistently bring it, line after line in the attack.
“Because that [is] missing, the game’s got to be played somewhere else and its being played in our end.”
The problem of consistency comes up.   The Flyers have put together 60-minute efforts only a few times in the last stretch of games.   It’s a trend that’s seen them go 3-1-4 in their last eight.   Five of those games went into either overtime or a shootout.
“We’ve talked about desperation for a while now,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “On some nights, we’ve overcome that. Some nights we haven’t. Other teams have played more desperate than us and they are desperate.
  “That’s something that you can’t fabricate. We need to go out and play good hockey because that’s what we’re here to do. … Desperation for us like we had last year … we have to do it for other reasons.”
Laviolette preaching desperation is sounding like a broken record, and it’s not something that’s just started.   The Flyers have been slipping all season.   It wasn’t clear in the first half, because they continued to win.    Their high skill level allowed them to glide to victory against teams that didn’t have the work ethic.   But down the stretch, where every game is important and every team is dangerous, the Flyers have continued to glide through games.
The team is a plus-38 on the season so far.   And although they lead the league in second period scoring, at 87, their third period scoring has only garnered 77 goals for, while they’ve yielded 78 against.  It’s a sore spot for the Eastern Conference leaders to be a minus in the final stanza.
“Our offensive zone time, really is, I think, the staple of our identity,” Laviolette said. “That grind and that attack … it’s a lot of work, a lot of movement, a lot of opportunities at the net, fighting for second opportunities, fighting for space in the tough areas.  
  “Our opportunities I think have been low for a while now, probably a few games, except for the one [Washington].”
The Flyers are a simple team, who employ a simple strategy on offense—get the puck in deep and forecheck.   It’s a strategy that saw them all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, but this season they seem pre-occupied with the perfect pass or deke, that so often leads to a turnover.
The Flyers, while offensively gifted, and possibly the deepest defensive team in the NHL, have yet to register a shutout.   They are the only team without a single shutout, but they have been held without a goal on six separate occasions.
With only seven games remaining, someone needs to flip the switch.   Otherwise, the season could be over sooner rather than later.
Contact Chuck.Tay@prohockeynews.com
Photographer Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com