CALGARY, Alberta — The culmination of three games in four nights on a western Canada road trip: A whole lot of sleepy Flyers hockey.
The Philadelphia Flyers looked out of sorts offensively while falling 4-0 to the Flames, who extended their red-hot winning streak to six games. For the game, the Flames outshot the Flyers, 36-20.
Up until their loss to the Flames, the Flyers had been jumping on the score sheet early. They registered the first goal in five of their seven games this season prior to Saturday night and went 4-0-1 when they did. However, the Flyers struggled to generate scoring chances and when they managed to put a handful of pressure on net, Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom was in perfect position to answer the call and secure the shutout. In his last four starts, Markstrom has stopped 125 of 126 shots.
For the first two games of the western road trip, the Flyers came ready to play and outscored opponents in the first period. Against the Edmonton Oilers, the Flyers led, 3-2, after the first 20 minutes and against the Vancouver Canucks, the Flyers pulled ahead 2-1. However, against the Flames, they struggled to put pressure on Markstrom after a scoreless first period. They were were outshot, 8-4, and only had one high-danger scoring chance to the Flames’ five.
The Flyers carried their offensive woes into the second period, managing to put only five shots on goal. The top line of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny combined for six shots through 40 minutes, while the rest of the Flyers skaters only registered three. The third period saw little improvement for the Flyers, who failed to capitalize on two power plays.
Although the Flyers’ penalty kill has found success early through the first six games of the season (84%), they have been taking up residency in the penalty box too frequently. Heading into their showdown against the Flames, the Flyers ranked second in the NHL in penalty minutes per game (14.5).
The Flyers struggled to stay out of the penalty box against the Flames, especially in the second period. Despite nullifying the first two man-advantages of the game, maintaining a 7-for-7 penalty-killing streak dating back to the start of the Canucks game, the Flames capitalized on their third power play of the game. In the third period, the Flyers failed to stay disciplined. After winger Zack MacEwen was called for hooking halfway through the period, the Flames made the Flyers pay. Winger Matthew Tkachuk scored on a tic-tac-toe goal to put the Flames up, 2-0.
The Flyers’ loss to the the Flames marked goalie Carter Hart’s 100th NHL start, and he stood tall overall. The Flames had five high-danger scoring chances after the first period, including center Dillon Dube’s attempted backhanded shot off a rebound. Hart slid across the crease and made a toe save, robbing Dube from finding the back of the net.
Hart looked brilliant again in the second period and allowed only one goal — center Sean Monahan’s power-play tip-in goal off a centering pass from defenseman Rasmus Andersson to put the Flames up, 1-0. However, Hart stoned Monahan later when Tkachuk attempted to tee Monahan up with a backhanded pass from behind the Flyers’ net. Despite a mostly strong game, Hart was beat by winger Johnny Gaudreau within the final two minutes of the third period after the Flames had scored on an empty-netter. Hart finished with 31 saves on 34 shots, good for a .912 save percentage.
