Post-Game Talk: #54 | FLYERS (A) vs. Capitals (H) | Friday, May, 7 2021 | 4-2 win

[VladDrag]

Games after being eliminated from playoff contention are meaningless in terms of the standings, which is what he actually said. Not reading too much into small sample sizes is accepted wisdom here, except when the coach says it. Some people even claim player performances in preseason games should be ignored entirely and we should pretend they never happened because they don’t affect the standings.

“It’s good experience for him,” Vigneault said, “I will say, though, on a personal level, I don’t put a lot of stock if a player in these games has a good showing or a bad showing. Our games for a while have been meaningless in the standings, and I’ve always felt you don’t put a lot of stock in these games.”

Added Vigneault: “It’s good to see that your guys are pros, that they’re trying to do the right things. But if a guy would play extremely well under these conditions, I would wait and have a bigger sample size to have a better assessment of his play.”

We’re his nipples out as he was rubbing them? Or was he sipping a martini at the time?

 

[deadhead]

These "Patrick is lazy" takes are something else.
You could claim he was a bit tentative early in the season, which was understandable, but certainly not the last couple months.
He's defensively responsible, goes into the corners after the puck, goes to the net.

Maybe people should stop trying to find scapegoats, the kid is just "off" and isn't getting much help from linemates.
His play is a lot like what you see from talented rookies who can't finish plays because the game is a little fast for them until they adjust. then the next season the puck starts going in the net.
Which may be what we should have expected from a 22 year old who missed a season, couldn't train as hard as usual then had a one week training camp.

 

[TheKingPin]

Anyone have even a screen shot of York looking down at the puck?


Also - you hate pairing those guys with the Haggs and Brauns. They just constantly take the puck and shoot or try and exit the puck. Pass the god damn puck to York, Braun.

 

[TheKingPin]

So when DOES +/- matter?

Laughton is +13
Patrick is -27

Every time they score net front I look to see who is the center on the ice is and most of the time it’s Patrick. Obviously correlates to +/- but he does not defend well enough in front of the net or slot. And he’s a center. In the NHL.

Biggest difference.

On-ice sv%
Laughton: .948
Patrick: .853

That'll drastically skew worthless stats like +/-.

Patrick hasn't been good, but Laughton hasn't been either. They're closer than people will admit.

Patrick has the 11th worst 5v5 on-ice shooting % and the worst on-ice save % in the league among forwards >500 minutes. Your goal differentials will look like total shit with that. Is he blameless? No. But the worst player in the league couldn’t replicate both of those concurrently. That’s the difference between garden variety poor and unrelenting nightmare. Mentally, that’s just f***ing tough to keep playing through.

Fun fact: the 2nd and 3rd worst 5v5 on-ice save %s in the league? Couturier and Giroux. Laughton has the 8th best save % in the league among that group. That’s hockey. That or the former two are putrid defensively and Laughton is a Selke lock.

Pretty crazy stuff. Could that be partially matchups and the elite guys who have crushed us this year being out against those other guys more?