Flyers' power-play has short-circuited
EDMONTON, Alberta - The Flyers' power play, which was among the league's elite in the first half of the season, hit its lowest point Wednesday during a 3-1 loss in Calgary.
EDMONTON, Alberta - The Flyers' power play, which was among the league's elite in the first half of the season, hit its lowest point Wednesday during a 3-1 loss in Calgary.
The Flyers went 0 for 4 with an extra attacker (or more), looked out of sync all night, and blew a five-minute, first-period power play that included a five-on-three for two minutes.
With the score tied at 1, the Flyers managed just two shots during their five-minute power play and allowed Calgary to clear the puck a staggering 11 times.
"We could have turned that hockey game in our direction, so it's worth taking a look at," coach Dave Hakstol said when asked Thursday morning if he planned to make any personnel changes on the power play in that night's game in Edmonton.
Heading into Thursday, the Flyers were just 4 for 42 (9.5 percent) on the power play in their last 12 games.
"The guys are getting a little angry at each other when we're not scoring and not setting it up," said Nick Cousins, whose goal 90 seconds into Wednesday's game was the Flyers' lone score that night.
All told, the Flyers had scored a total of seven goals (excluding an empty-netter) in their last seven games entering Thursday.
Outdoor game
When the Flyers play Pittsburgh at Heinz Field on Feb. 25, the nine Penguins selected among the league's top 100 players will be honored during a ceremony in the second intermission, the NHL announced Thursday.
Five of the nine players will be in attendance for that 8 p.m. game: Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Bryan Trottier, and Ron Francis. (Jaromir Jagr, Luc Robitaille, Andy Bathgate, and Tim Horton were the other Penguins named among the top 100.)
As of now, the weather forecast is calling for temperatures in the 30s and a 55 percent chance of light snow when the teams meet in the Stadium Series matchup.
More than 60,000 tickets have been sold; tickets are still available at www.ticketmaster.com.
Breakaways
Michal Neuvirth made his sixth start in the last seven games. It marked the first time since Nov. 2-3 - wins over Detroit and the New York Islanders - that he had started games that were played on back-to-back nights. . . . Brayden Scehnn played in his 400th game as a Flyer. . . . Claude Giroux entered the night needing 16 assists to pass Mark Recchi for fourth in franchise history. . . . It was a homecoming of sorts for Hakstol, who grew up in nearby Warburg (population: 766) and had many friends and relatives at the game. . . . Phantoms defenseman Sam Morin had played in 125 straight games before being suspended two games for cross-checking. He will miss games Friday and Saturday.
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