Flyers Outplay Kraken Yet Can’t Finish Shots and Leave Seattle With Another Loss

The Flyers walked into Seattle, a place they haven’t won since 2021, with every possible advantage, yet still managed to play a sloppy, uninspired, and frustrating game where they deserved the loss they earned.

In the first game back from the Christmas break, the Flyers took on the Kraken, who own the NHL’s worst penalty kill unit, so there was a feeling the Flyers could get some rhythm going with the power play unit and with Daniel Vladar getting the start in net.

The Kraken came into tonight’s game on a bit of a heater, winning their last three games. The Flyers also closed their pre-holiday schedule with back-to-back regulation wins. The Kraken have really loosened defensively of late, after an incredibly strong start. They still rank 2nd in pace, however, dead last in stopping shots, and bottom-2 in both shots and expected goals conceded on the penalty kill during that span. This means that the game will hinge on how well the offense and the top 2 lines play against this slipping defense.

The first period was fast-paced, and the Flyers had 2 chances to test that last-place penalty kill unit, but whiffed on both attempts. In the second penalty, Denver Barkey was on a clean look at Philipp Grubauer, but just before he started to get his shot set up, Ryan Lindgren held him, and it was very close to being a penalty shot, but the referees rightly called it a holding. It was close and required 3 watches for me see it. Barkey didn’t start the shooting motion. The problem there is that there was only one shot on goal in the power play attempt. The Flyers had a strong first period in the end. Vladar played incredibly sharp, the defensive pairings all played incredibly well, and importantly, the Flyers had 10 shots in the period.

Early in the second, the Kraken got the first goal after the Flyers weren’t able to clear the puck from the zone, and Kraken captain Jordan Eberle took an incredible pass from Kaapo Kakko between bunched-up Flyers defenders and banged it home by Vladar before he could see it. Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim were chasing Kappo, while Jamie Drysdale did not move up to cover the back end of the play, giving a strong passing lane. The second period was very eventless, other than a Seattle penalty for too many men on the ice, which is the second penalty of that variety over the last two games.

The third period was more offensively focused for the Flyers, but at 5:35, Adam Larsson cleared his zone, and Eeli Tolvanen got the puck, which went behind the net, moved out to pull Vladar to his left, and sent a lightning-quick pass to Chandler Stephenson, who finished perfectly. Late in the third, Rick Tocchet pulled Vladar, which allowed Tolvanen to bury an empty netter for the third unanswered goal. Carl Grundstrom would score a goal to bring the Flyers to within two. Tocchet pulled Vladar again, and once again, Tolvanen sniped an empty net for his second empty net goal. That put the game out of reach and closed out the game for the Kraken to take home a 4-1 win.

Flyers Must Improve Communication In The Defensive Zone

On the first goal of the game, there was a rare miscommunication with the Flyers in the defense zone. In the play, Kakko got a pass from behind the net from Matty Beniers, and the second he received the pass, both Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim chased Kakko, while Drysdale did not move up to cover the back end of the play, giving a strong passing lane, which Eberle took advantage of, on a one-timer past Vladar. In the end, one of the defensemen should have come in, because wingers move up to the point, but in this case, Drysdale needs to be a little more aware to prevent such easy one-timer chances.

This has happened a few times this season, and is the kind of mental mistake that can’t happen in pressure games moving forward. It’s not what you’d expect from this line, which has truly improved as the season has progressed. My thought here is that it was a mistake that will be addressed by Tocchet in drills, but this couldn’t have come at a worse moment for the Flyers. Playing team defense has been a large part of the reason the Flyers are playing so well. Drysdale has looked off all night, and when he doesn’t play well, the Flyers’ defense suffers, and continues when he exits the ice, because the Flyers

Barkey Is Earning Respect In Early Play

When the Flyers called up Barkey last Friday, both Daniel Briere and Tocchet knew what they were getting in him. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in intelligence and tenacity. Phantoms coach John Snowden noted, “He’s a smaller guy, but he plays like he’s 6-4,” and he has not disappointed at all.

Tonight, he made several smart plays to move the puck into positive positions, which allowed his linemates to get better shots at Grubauer, particularly in the third period. The Flyers were having some issues getting quality shots on Grubauer, but Barkey was giving his teammates opportunities, even if they weren’t able to finish. More often than not, making passes like tonight will result in his line mates’ closing shots being better than they were tonight.

Maybe I’m a dreamer, but I’d love to see Barkey and Matvei Michkov on a line together. The creativity would be off the charts, and it’s not too crazy because that would move Michkov to his preferred winger position. With Barkey’s passing intuition and Michkov’s finishing ability, this pairing is something we can dream about.

Flyers’ Offense Lacked Killer Instinct Tonight

The Flyers outplayed the Kraken tonight, had more shots, and kept the pressure on Grubauer all night. However, they left Seattle with another loss. To me, there was one reason this game ended in a loss — the Flyers couldn’t finish shots to save their lives tonight. I would love to say that Seattle played smothering defense, keeping the Flyers away from Grubauer all night, but that would be very wrong. The passing in the first two periods was off and didn’t allow for good shots to be taken. In the third, they did clean up the passes, especially with the play of Barkey, but sadly for him, nobody could close for him.

Several players looked off all game, but the one who completely disappeared, especially late, was Travis Konecny. Trevor Zegras and Michkov also seemed out of sync tonight, but as important as they are, TK is someone who needs to be in the middle of the plays, causing chaos for the Flyers to be successful. It also points out how important Drysdale is to the defense as well.

Tonight was not a good showing of who the Flyers truly are. They played below their ability against a team that has been playing better, but tonight they frustrated the Flyers, and this is one loss that hurts because the Kraken didn’t beat the Flyers tonight; they beat themselves with lackluster play and an inability to finish shots.

Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox: