Have the Flyers righted the ship

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – After their longest losing streak of the season (4 games), and an especially embarrassing loss to the NYRangers (7-0), the Flyers were back in the win column against the bottom dwelling Oilers with a 4-1 decision.   But they still didn’t put up a 60 minute effort.
The Oilers, an injury plagued and youthful team, visited the Wells Fargo Center, and were welcomed by a team with plenty of jump in the first stanza that outshot them 17-1.
Coach of the Flyers, Peter Laviolette, had stated before the game, he wanted to limit the visitors scoring chances, and the team certainly did that in the first, as well as potting two goals.  
The first goal came off of a breakaway feed from defenseman Matt Carle that sent Danny Briere in alone on Oilers netminder, Devan Dubnyk.   The goal was Briere’s first in eight games.  
The second came as Oiler defenseman Ladislav Smid was in the box on a five-minute major for drilling checking winger Darroll Powe into the boards head first.   On a set play, Briere sent a touch pass through the crease to Jeff Carter, who just returned to the lineup after missing two games due to the flu, and the crafty forward fired it in the net.
As the second period started, the Oilers seemed to get their skates under them.   They were momentarily stifled at 7:05 as Carter scored his second goal of the night making it 3-0.   But as is a frequent occurrence this season, the Flyers gave up a goal, and their chance at their first shutout of the season, only 00:55 later.   Forward, Jean-Francois Jacques deflected a point shot from Smid that beat Flyers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on the short side.
Many times this season, the Flyers have given up goals less than 2-minutes after scoring.   It’s become a constant problem, and a cause for concern surrounding the team’s lack of focus.   The issue of giving up quick goals has gone on longer than the team’s recent losing streak.   It’s been a problem for more than two months, but while they were winning, it rarely received attention.
“There’s winning and then there’s winning in spite of how you play,” said Flyers’ defenseman Chris Pronger.   “We still have a lot of work to do.   We have to sharpen up.”
The second period saw the visitors outshoot the home team 11-5.   And in the third, the Oilers again outshot the Flyers, 13-5.   The quick, young team nearly closed the gap with the Eastern Conference leading Flyers, but with a little luck and some remarkable goaltending by Bobrovsky, the Flyers held on to the lead and finished by putting in an empty net goal.
Future hall-of-famer, Pronger, had some disgruntled words regarding their play in the later parts of the game.
“Probably 23 or 24 good minutes the way we need to play to be successful,” said Pronger.   “Obviously we played a team that has a lot of injuries and a lot of youth.   We were able to capitalize on some chances early in the first period and get off to a lead.   But if you look at the latter part of the second and probably the last 12 or 14 minutes of that third period, we were sitting back, standing still, turning pucks over and they just came at us wave after wave.”
This game as with many in recent months has appeared less than a 60 minute effort.   The orange and black put in a strong effort through parts of the game, but failed to carry through and execute the work ethic Laviolette has tried to instill in the team from the beginning of training camp.
“I’m a believer in the way you play the game and the process,” said the Flyers’ head coach.   “If the process is right, you will win hockey games.   So, I am always more concerned about the process”
He went on to say, “We lost our speed, turned the puck over and tried to be too cute.   We want to win all the games we play, but we want to do it the right way.”
Turnovers and flat play have become a staple this season for the Flyers, and until they can right the ship, they’ll struggle to put together wins.
One thing that has definitely improved is the Russian rookie goaltender, Bobrovsky.   The goalie known as “Bob” has been putting together some strong performances lately and without him, the score against the Oilers could have turned the other way fast. He looked quick and poised in all situations, and his one flaw, stick-handling behind the net, has been the biggest improvement.   He was stopping the puck and moving it with decisiveness, as if he’d been doing it for years.   This bodes well for the youngsters bid to be the starter come playoff time.
The Flyers don’t have much time to ponder their troubles for long.   They play nearly every other day for the remainder of the season.  
Next, they travel to Toronto for a Thursday night game against the streaking Maple Leafs, who have only one regulation loss in their last 11 games.   The Flyers lost to the leafs less than a week ago.
Contact Chuck.Tay@prohockeynews.com
Photographer Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com