Lightning Blank Flyers 3-0 in Lackadaisical Performance

The Philadelphia Flyers, after putting up six goals on the 13-win New Jersey Devils, traveled to Tampa Bay with hopes to continue their hot play. However, they ended up going scoreless in tonight’s game, losing 3-0 as they give the Lightning their fourth straight win in their third shutout in three years in the city of Tampa.

After an impressive 6-3 win over New Jersey, the Flyers failed to execute on any plays, as they could not find any offense throughout the night. While only giving up two goals into a tended net, the Flyers’ defense still looked shaky, with not much aggression and more back skating, as we have seen often this year. After a night light this, the best option for the Flyers is to hit the road while putting this game in the past.

Ersson Loses Confidence

With the Flyers now a quarter of the way into the regular season, goaltending has seen a big jump with the addition being Daniel Vladar, who has exceeded expectations as of late. This jump from Vladar had suddenly put Samuel Ersson‘s job on edge more than it already had been. Even though Ersson had been quality during the shootout, his game still continued to look below average.

Tonight, Ersson started for the first time since the Flyers’ shootout win in St. Louis, where he gave up five goals to the Blues. Though he and the Flyers had hoped he would bounce back and find his confidence once again, Ersson gave up two goals on 18 shots, below .900 save percentage. His offense was not able to back him up by any means, which hurts his case even more, as Ersson knows he could have prevented those two goals from going into the net. With Ersson’s struggles being a continuing issue, the offense going scoreless does not help with his confidence.

Konecny’s Slow Season Continues

Another issue regarding this Flyers team has been forward Travis Konecny, who had signed an extension worth $8.75 million of AAV. This game for Konecny reflects the issues he has been dealing with now, a fourth of the way into the year.

Tonight, in over 20 minutes of ice time and 25 total shifts, Konecny ended up -1 +/-, and had two giveaways. On film, Konecny continued to fumble the puck and could not execute on passes. Especially tonight, he also continued to pass the puck while in the middle of the ice. If Konecny takes a few more shot attempts in that position, the Flyers may have been on the scorecard.

Vasilevskiy Outperforms Philadelphia

Though the offense had a tough game, puck control-wise, one of the biggest factors that led to the Flyers getting shut out was Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has won his fourth straight start. With him only giving up one goal each to the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, and Edmonton Oilers prior to tonight, the Flyers would figure that the man opposing them in net would give them a hard time tonight.

Vasilevskiy is now 15-4-1 all-time against Philadelphia. In his 22 games against the Flyers, Vasilevskiy holds a save percentage of .935, third all-time against the Flyers. With that, he has a GAA against the Flyers of 1.98, which sends the message that the offense could very possibly struggle when they see this man in net for Tampa Bay.

Flyers Stay in State Wednesday Night

The Flyers continue this road trip Wednesday night against the Florida Panthers at 7:00 PM, against whom they have a record of 1-1-0 this season. The Flyers are 0-2 in the state of Florida, against the Lightning and Panthers.

All of that aside, they hope to put tonight’s show away and get more quality shots on net, as head coach Rick Tocchet has stated multiple times this year, losses like this will happen, and the Flyers need to learn how to move on and start up a new win streak, which they hope to do against the Panthers.

Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox: