In the NHL, you need to be able to transition the puck out of the dzone into the NZ with possession. Sanheim and Gudas are the only ones able to do it with regularity this year, and it's showing. The blue line turnovers occur because the Flyers' D corps is having such a hard time making important first passes this year. Tonight is no different. They're turning it over to pinching dmen every other shift. They're having a hard time finding soft spots in the forecheck and using outlets to relieve pressure.
I'll die on this hill: the Flyers are a lethal quick strike offense. Though it hasn't been evident the last few weeks, they have smart, quick playmakers and a scoring touch on the back end and in the top 6. Their transition hockey is incredible when it's on, and horrendous when it isn't because of turnovers (like the Sixers). This is where guys like Folin, Hagg, and McDonald kill this team. They're never in the right spot to be used as an outlet when just getting possession of the puck in the dzone and if they are, they aren't capable of making a crisp first pass to effectively break out of the zone. The guys with real vision like Sanheim, Ghost, and Prov (sometimes Gudas) recognize this and are forced to either skate out the puck- inevitably through traffic- or force a pass in the NZ. And there are your turnovers. And that's why silly posters here call Ghost awful or rip Sanheim.
This is why the biggest need on this team is upgrading the hockey IQ on the back end. Get Morin in for AMac. Myers for Folin/Hagg. Suddenly you have Ghost, Prov, Sanheim, Gudas, Morin, and Myers. All of these players are capable of playing good defense (which for some reason we like to call "shut down defense" implying some big slow guy like Rathje back there. Idk) AND have the vision to recognize lapses in a forecheck- and have quick enough feet to get to the spot as an outlet and are capable of skating through open space or making a good first pass.
CASE IN POINT^^^^ End of the 2nd. Gudas corralled the puck on the left side, pedaling backwards, at the dzone blue line. Being pressured. He looks strong side but didn't chose to pass it that direction nor ice it (I'm sure that winger was tightly marked just off a NZ faceoff). He looked towards his partner. His partner didn't move. He didn't drift backwards towards the bottom of the right circle to give him an angle to relieve the pressure on him. He was watching the play develop but didn't react(isn't capable of reacting?). Gudas, now getting poke checked, sends it weak side. Gets broken up by the forechecker, and a dzone penalty ensues following a scoring chance. Gudas is crucified for a terrible turnover. But what really happened there? His partner was Hagg. Shocking, I know.
CASE IN POINT #2: Hagg again! Shocking, I know. Hanging out near his crease out of position, covering no one, unavailable for the D to D pass like always. Folin goes D to no one, turnover, goal
Couts: rough first period. 3 or 4 NZ turnovers
Konecny: speed is always noticeable. Blew by a dman on the left side but fired a backhander high and wide
Patrick: good to see him with the puck on his stick around the net and in the dirty areas. Last year when he started putting it all together was when he really stuck his nose in the play instead of sticking around the perimeter. A sign of good things to come I hope.
JVR: quietly heating up.
Sanheim: Struggled today. He was indeed much more effective on the left side, but I like him on the top pair. Today was his first bad game in a quite a number of weeks, a huge accomplishment for a 22 year old seeing top minutes. Loved seeing him up in the thick of the offense in the last 5 mins
Hart: another good game from the kid. Man, would have loved to see him stone Heesher but you can't have em all.
Simmonds: on the 6-4 pp had an easy pass to JVR for the tap in. f***ed it up. Cooked.
Giroux: that missed shot on the 6-4 PP. Killing me. Laughton missed a wide open net too. Shame. G, still, is just a set it and forget it guy out there. Few great looks over to TK, love those 2 together.
They're going to get a good talent towards the top of the draft. They have talent coming up. Frost will infuse this team with more speed and skill next season, upgrading the middle 6. Simmonds will be gone. Jake is slumping and will bounce back. NAK will be up. Misha will be up. Hart will be in net. There will be a new coach. This team is underachieving for a myriad of reasons this year but they will bounce back and the near future is still looking bright. Enough rambling.
