Flyers Winless Streak Reaches Nine to Start Season in Loss to Red Wings

After an improved effort on Tuesday against Seattle, the Flyers dropped a highly contested game in Detroit that went down to the end, with the Red Wings taking the game 2-1, as the Flyers have another late-game collapse, leaving their winless streak at nine,

For the first time this season, the Flyers get off to the 1-0 lead on a play where the Flyers’ young forwards teamed crashed the net, with Porter Martone taking a flip shot right in front of the net and Matvei Michkov redirecting it home in the air, making the game 1-0.

Anton Johansson scored his first NHL goal on a 2-on-1 to tie the game. As the third period was winding down, Andrew Copp scored a back-breaking goal to give the Red Wings the lead that felt much bigger than the one goal it represented. This would end up being the final score, 2-1.

Transition Play Remains a Huge Issue

The Flyers were missing two key elements of their defense, with Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen not making the trip to Detroit while recovering from injuries. In this game, they missed them both at the blue line, but where they were both missed most was in the transition game. York particularly has been one of the Flyers’ best defensemen at turning the puck the other way, and that was something that the team missed, especially in the second period, where the Flyers had breakout opportunities that couldn’t get started out of the zone because the puck wasn’t cleared fast enough.

This has been one of many things missing for the Flyers in the first eight games, but with the way the Flyers forecheck is built, they need to rely on faster transitions to allow the forwards to get set up to go into the zone. The Flyers need to establish an offensive identity, and part of this will be based on how well the defense pairings can get the puck going back the other way. Anything that can help jumpstart the Flyers’ offense.

Offense Stagnates in Motown

The Flyers came in scoring a paltry 1.25 goals per game, and their opponents came in scoring 2.23 goals per game. While this is eye-opening, the big discrepancy is in the shots. The Red Wings come in with 31.83 shots per game, and the Flyers are only getting 20.75 shots per game. When you juxtapose this against the 34.63 shots against the Flyers’ goalies, it’s no surprise the team is struggling so much.

Detroit controlled the pace for much of the game, especially in the final moments of the game, where the Flyers had a few opportunities, despite closing out the game on the penalty kill. Even with the Red Wings controlling much of the final minute, the Flyers managed a flurry with 20 seconds left and even had a chance as time dwindled, but they only had one shot on goal despite the last flurry giving them three opportunities. Answers are nowhere closer for the Flyers to get more shots on goal, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the next two weeks, as the Flyers will face mostly playoff teams from last season for the foreseeable future.

Power Play Struggles in Key Moment

Over the last six seasons, the Flyers’ power play has ranked last in the NHL, and in this season they have not found any way out of the cellar. They are now 2-for-26 on the power play. The biggest issue on the power play is that the Flyers can’t control the center of the ice, and if a power play can’t control the ice between the dots, they will never have a chance to establish a rhythm.

This came back to bite the Flyers in a key moment of the game.

In the second half of the third period, Martone drew a penalty, and with the game tied, the Flyers needed to make some noise. With many teams, this would be a great chance to get on the board and take the lead. With the Flyers, this is not the reality. In this power play, the Flyers managed only three shots, and none of them made Daniil Tarasov work terribly hard.

After the kill, Detroit took full control of the momentum of the game, and they played in the Flyers’ zone, allowing the Copp goal. The Flyers remain without answers; the team fell apart in the second half of the third period in a close game.

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