Flyers' power play has fallen off dramatically
VANCOUVER - The Flyers' special teams have not been very special lately, playing a major part in their tailspin. The Flyers, losers of three straight, are 0 for 10 on the power play in their last four games, and their penalty kill has allowed goals in five consecutive games.
VANCOUVER - The Flyers' special teams have not been very special lately, playing a major part in their tailspin.
The Flyers, losers of three straight, are 0 for 10 on the power play in their last four games, and their penalty kill has allowed goals in five consecutive games.
The team's power play finished third in the NHL with a 23.4 percent success rate last season. In the first 10 games this year, the Flyers are 24th in the league, clicking at 12.5 percent.
"When things aren't going too well, we maybe just try to do too much," left winger Michael Raffl after Sunday's practice at the University of British Columbia. "I think we have to go back to simple hockey - put pucks to the net. They're going to bounce in eventually."
Raffl and Jake Voracek, each of whom are goalless this year, were back on the top line with center Claude Giroux at Sunday's practice. The wingers had been demoted to lower lines in Friday's 3-1 loss in Buffalo.
The Flyers (4-4-2) play in Vancouver (5-2-4) on Monday, their second stop on a five-game trip.
Overall, the Flyers have scored 20 goals (two per game); they had 32 goals (3.2 per game) at the same point last season.
General manager Ron Hextall believes the Flyers have been overpassing on the power play, looking for the perfect shot.
Voracek agreed.
"If you don't have confidence, you don't see the lanes very good. You're hesitating to shoot the puck because you're scared it's going to get blocked," Voracek said.
Voracek said the Flyers have had similar power-play problems in recent years and gotten things straightened out.
"We just have to find a way to get the puck in the net and make a difference because it's a huge part of our game," he said.
Special teams, defenseman Mark Streit said, are vital for swinging the momentum. He is hopeful a strong power play late in Friday's game will have a carryover effect Monday.
"We didn't score, but the positive was that we had some momentum," he said. "We had some scoring chances; puck retrieval was great. We battled really hard."
The Flyers will be facing a Vancouver team that entered Sunday with the league's third-best penalty kill, successfully stopping power plays at a 90 percent rate.
In assistant coach Joe Mullen's eight years as the power-play coach, the Flyers have finished in the top 10 seven times.
The first line will be back together Monday, and the altered other lines figure to look like this: Scott Laughton centering Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds; Brayden Schenn centering Sam Gagner and Vinny Lecavalier; and Chris VandeVelde centering R.J. Umberger and Ryan White.
@BroadStBull
philly.com/broadstreetbull