TORONTO — The Philadelphia Flyers have a serious problem.
They cannot score goals.
As obvious as this flaw is, the Flyers’ lack of playoff scoring has escaped heavy scrutiny because, hey, look at how awesome Carter Hart is playing for a 22-year-old goalie and, wow, the defence has really rounded into form under the steady hand of Alain Vigneault.
Moreover, until Monday’s clinical dissection by the New York Islanders, Philly had been winning — sport’s cure-all for underlying ailments. They entered the Toronto bubble as a fourth seed and catapulted to top dogs as Boston and Washington sleepwalked through round-robin action.
They then slipped by a 12-seed Montreal Canadiens squad that came here for experience and moral victories and were able to chalk up their cold sticks to Carey Price.
But now? Now it’s a problem.
Through 10 post-season contests, the Flyers have averaged a scant 2.2 goals per game. Every team with worse production — and 10 (!) teams with better production — has already been eliminated.
Philly’s offence is drier than Steven Wright’s punchline delivery.
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Complicating matters, Philly must now swipe four of six games from the post-season’s best goaltender (Semyon Varlamov’s .941 save percentage is the stuff of records) and stingiest team defences (the Islanders are averaging a near-comical 1.5 goals-against per game).
“We’ve got a few players right now that, in my estimation, can play a lot better with the puck. We’ll address it and we’ll respond for the next game,” Vigneault says. “Frustration is not going to help. What you’ve got to do right now is focus on the process, focus on the task, and put your best effort on the ice.
“I really believe there’s another level we can attain if our top-end guys execute the way we saw them execute throughout the year.”
When the Flyers step to the podium to voice their issues, there has been much talk of the thinly veiled “top guys” needing to execute, but names are slowing getting called out.
Outside of Jakub Voracek, who leads the roster with four goals, the well-compensated veteran forwards on this roster have been firing blanks, if they put themselves in positions to fire at all.
Free-agency bet Kevin Hayes, stymied by Varlamov on a breakaway in Game 1, has one goal.
Captain Claude Giroux, Selke finalist Sean Couturier, young stud Travis Konecny, and sometime healthy scratch James van Riemsdyk have combined for the same 2020 playoff goal total as Gritty. Which is to say, zero.
5v5 Goals by Flyers in recent Playoffs history
Giroux: 1G in last 22 Games
Voracek: 2G in last 22 Games
Konecny: 1G in last 15 Games
Provorov: 1G in last 15 Games
Hayes: 3G in last 30 Games— HockeyIceStorm.com (@HockeyIceStorm) August 25, 2020
Couturier skated 16:35 in Game 1 without a shot on net. Flyers forwards went one mid-game stretch of 13:53 without getting a puck through to Varlamov. Philly doesn’t have a single player among the playoffs’ top 25 point-getters.
Couturier (12 games) and Konency (13) have picked the worst time to suffer their longest goal droughts. Going back to 2016, Giroux has totalled one playoff goal in his past three-plus series.
Vigneault on Couturier: “I expect more from Couts and his line.”
GM Chuck Fletcher on Konecny: “Travis is one of those players that has another level he needs to get to. In terms of using his speed to create and getting pucks to the net, he’s getting better. But there’s another level he needs to get to.”
Giroux on himself: “The top players have got to play better. I’m obviously one of them. We’ve got to get going here.”
If there is a silver lining to be gleaned here, it’s in the Flyers’ uncanny knack for responding to a defeat. Philadelphia hasn’t linked consecutive losses since Jan. 7, a remarkable run of 36 games.
“Frustration is something we can’t have,” Giroux says. “We haven’t lost two in a row for a while, so we don’t plan on losing the next one.”
That, of course, would mean scoring more goals than the Islanders during Wednesday’s Game 2 matinee.
“I have no doubt we’re gonna do that,” Voracek says.
At this point, one can’t help but wonder if the Flyers are trying to convince us or convince themselves.
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