Where the Flyers Need to Improve Before Game 2

Despite allowing 3 goals on just 20 shots, Stuart Skinner played excellently for the Penguins. Without him playing the way he did, it could have been a much higher score.

To beat a Penguins team that will inevitably enter Monday’s Game 2 with an increased intensity, they have to convert more of those looks.

Flyers have to clean up the power play struggles

Part of that needing to convert comes down to power play.

The Flyers had 3 power play opportunities on Saturday. They only registered two shots on Skinner. That simply has to be better.

Whistles are hardly blown as often as they are in the regular season in the playoffs. That limits the number of opportunities given. Any team has to take advantage of those opportunities.

The Flyers did a good job on the Penalty kill, keeping the Penguins’ power play at bay. However, with the scoring pedigree they have on the power play, can Philly really keep Pittsburgh’s power play off the board throughout the series? Survey says no.

That said, the Flyers HAVE to take advantage of those opportunities when given. Power play struggles have been an issue all season. Tocchet has recognized that before. But he’s also said that they’re too deep into the season to make any real change. They need to rely on the talent they have to make plays and score with no structural change.

It’s not impossible, but teams rarely win playoff series without scoring power-play goals. It has to get better if they want to take hold of the series on Monday.

Penguins controlled the dot on Saturday – That’s got to change

The Flyers, at least between Sean Couturier and Cristian Dvorak, have been good at the faceoff dot all season. That got even better when they added Luke Glendening off waivers at the deadline.

You would have never been able to tell on Saturday.

The Penguins went 29/49 at the dot, 59.2%. That, my friends, is domination. Unsurprisingly, Sean Couturier was excellent. He went 5/8, 63%. He was the only Flyer above 45% at the dot on Saturday. The surprising part is that Luke Glendening and Christian Dvorak struggled mightily.

Dvorak went 5/12, 42% at the dot, while Glendening was 3/9, 33%. Trevor Zegras and Noah Cates did not perform well on draws, either, but that is far less surprising and more expected.

“There’s gonna be nights like that,” said Glendening after Sunday’s practice. “They’ve got some good faceoff guys over there. We’ll regroup and try to be better tomorrow.”

Contrary to the Flyers having just one player over 45% on Saturday, the Penguins had 5 of their 6 players take draws over 50%, with 4 at 60% or better. Notably, Noel Acciari was 7/9 for an impressive 78% on draws in Game 1. Sidney Crosby, Ben Kindell, and Ricard Rakell were all over 60%.

Faceoffs are quite literally a way to establish early possession in all three zones. It has to be cleaned up for Monday.

Read More: Flyers Postgame Blog: High Physicality, Missed Opportunities, & The Mental Game

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