Flyers collapse after early goal in 6-3 loss to Rangers as Kolosov pulled after first three shots
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
This one was over almost as soon as it started, even though the Flyers technically scored first. A brutal first-period collapse spotted the Rangers the game, and the rest of the afternoon felt like damage control in front of a fed-up home crowd who had to suffer through an ugly 6-3 Flyers loss.
The early storyline of the game was how the two goalies would play without much ice time with their respective teams this season. It was Spencer Martin’s first start for the New York Rangers and Aleksei Kolosov’s second of the season for the Flyers in today’s Saturday matinee at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The first period started fast for the Flyers with Trevor Zegras finding Travis Konecny trailing who banged it home before Kolosov even faced a shot. The Flyers took advantage of the Rangers aggressiveness on their forecheck as well as their desire to play with physical dominance early on.
After Konecny’s goal, the wheels fell off the bus for the Flyers and Kolosov. Alexis Lafreniere charged back on a lazy pass by the Flyers in their zone, which resulted in an odd man rush and Artemi Panarin ended it snapping a shot past Kolosov, tying the game at one. Less than 30 seconds later, Mika Zibanejad took a crisp feed from JT Miller and banged another goal home. Then under a minute later later Brennan Othmann took a Will Cuylle pass and put it in the net. It felt like the Rangers strung three goals together in the blink of an eye. Making matters worse, I looked at the shots and the Rangers had three goals on three shots. Forcing Rick Tocchet to pull Kolosov in favor of Samuel Ersson. On Ersson’s first save, the crowd let them hear it with a sarcastic cheer.
In the second period, somehow the Flyers played worse, with Zibanejad scoring two unanswered goals, because of course he did. In my opinion, the worst thing to watch today was Rangers fans throwing hats on the ice after Zibanejad’s third goal. He has 10 career hat tricks, three of which are against the Flyers. Panarin also scored another goal when a Flyers pass was too strong and missed the target, Lafreniere cleaned up the mess and fed it to Panarin. Travis Sanheim scored a short handed goal when Konecny clogged the lane and took a rare Flyers two-on-one which ended in a goal. Tocchet must have gave the team the business in the second intermission because the Flyers played much better in the third period. Passes were much cleaner, and the forecheck was much improved and that led to Denver Barkey stole a pass, and got it ahead to Trevor Zegras for his 19th goal of the season. It was an anticlimactic end to a game that felt like it was over midway through the first, but ended in a 6-3 Flyers loss.
Goaltending Lets Down Flyers Again
With Daniel Vladar out, the Flyers would look to Kolosov to stop the bleeding between the pipes for the Flyers, and man, that didn’t happen at all today. He was out of position on all three goals he gave up in the first period. The third goal was a little more understandable, but he was nowhere near in sync, and it showed. He overcommitted on the first two goals, and on the third the defense in front of him let him down a bit, but in the end he has to take this on his record: three shots, three goals.
He was pulled for Ersson who didn’t exactly stop the bleeding, but he slowed it. He gave up three goals as well, but he saw more than three shots, so there is some improvement, which the fans in attendance let him know their frustration with a mocking cheer when he made his first stop. Ersson’s play improved a bit today, but to be completely honest, this isn’t going to cut it. If Vladar is going to be out an extended period of time, we could see all of the momentum built melt away as the Flyers slide into obscurity, and that would be a hard pill to swallow when you look at how far they’ve come this season.
The Injury Bug Has Found its Way Into The Flyers Locker Room
Coming into today’s game the Flyers started with three players on the shelf with injuries, and all three could have been a huge help – Bobby Brink is on the IR, but skated in advance of today’s game. As previously stated Vladar is still day to day and Rasmus Ristolainen is out still. Ristolainen in particular hurt because the Flyers could have used his physicality today against the Rangers. Their backcheck looked dominant today because they started the game with strong physical play and it felt like the Flyers had no answer. Which led to a curious healthy scratch of Nicolas Deslauriers, who undoubtedly could have helped on the boards, and kept the Rangers from bullying the Flyers, especially early on.
In addition to this there was a scary moment when Rodrigo Abols was helped off the ice after a scrum on the boards. It was hard to tell in the moment whether it was a knee or an ankle injury. It happened on his second shift after a collision with Rangers forward Gabe Perreault, causing Abols to fall awkwardly and not make it up. The Flyers are already playing with a short bench as they head on a California road trip, and missing Abols in addition to the others is not optimal for the Flyers as they head into a bit of a road grind ahead. Health issues have not been an issue until now and that is a massive part of why the Flyers are struggling right now.
Flyers Play Picks Up in the Third
If morale victories were counted in the standings the Flyers would be leading the Metropolitan by five points. Sadly, they’re not and though this game’s score doesn’t give the true picture of how the game truly went, the Flyers did close out very well. One thing that won’t show up in the box score, but didn’t go unnoticed was how well Nikita Grebenkin played in the third period. He finished checks, and was in the middle of everything. His passing alone seemed to calm the offense and allow his linemates to set up a little better. Nothing was rushed, and it was obvious. His calm seemed to spread from his line to the rest of the team. This is a very good sign.
But, as I said morale victories aren’t worth too much when the team gets blown out on home ice. Making matters worse is that was the only game going at the time, so the eyes of the NHL were on this game. It’s hard to come back when your starting goalie spots the other team three goals in the first on three shots, but we all expect more effort out of this team. Cleaning up the passing, and working on trapping pucks in the offensive zone needs to improve now and waiting to address this will only lead to more stretches like what we’re seeing. The last six games are concerning at the minimum and a scary trend at the worst. Though we’re not at panic phase yet, we’re getting closer and closer with every loss.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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