Flyers takeaways: Encouraging play from David Jiříček, and Cam York’s struggles continue
If Jiříček is going to stick in the lineup, he will need to continue stringing together games like Thursday against the Senators.
OTTAWA, Ontario ― The Flyers’ 2-1 loss to the Senators on Thursday was their best effort of the season.
Despite their five-game losing streak, there’s plenty of positives to take away from that performance, and also a few negatives, as the Flyers attempt to round into form.
Here’s a look at whose stock is up and who’s down after the loss in Ottawa:
Stock up: David Jiříček
Thursday’s game was exactly what the Flyers want to see from Jiříček: threatening on offense, not-an-active-liability on defense. Jiříček had a few great defensive plays, including one to save an empty-netter, but was most noticeable offensively.
Jiříček, moved up to the first power play unit, was part of maybe the two best power-play sequences of the season, between the sole goal of the game for the Flyers and the subsequent power play. He had one especially nifty pass through the legs to set up Tyson Foerster.
After trading for Jiříček at the deadline last year, his stock has gone up and down, with the preseason game against Washington a notable step back. But given another chance with Ristolainen out, Jiříček recovered with a solid performance after making a big mistake in Tampa. If Jiříček is going to stick in the lineup, he will need to continue stringing together games like Thursday, but it’s evidence of the vision the Flyers had in acquiring him.
Stock down: Cam York
In a better game for virtually everyone on the Flyers’ roster, Cam York still struggled. The Flyers conceded five high-danger chances with York on the ice and generated just one at five-on-five. He was also a victim of the Flyers’ lack of discipline, spending 5:01 on the penalty kill in the game.
With Rasmus Ristolainen out, York was separated from his usual partner, Jamie Drysdale, and paired with Jiříček. Drysdale, paired primarily with Travis Sanheim, was on the ice for seven Flyers high-danger chances at five-on-five and didn’t concede any.
York took a step forward to end last year, becoming a reliable penalty killer on that second pair. But he hasn’t been able to maintain the level heading into the year, even on Thursday, which was a better defensive performance overall.
Stock up: Matvei Michkov
After an up-and-down sophomore campaign, Michkov has shown his commitment to improving his two-way play to start the season. Outside of a bad penalty immediately following the Senators’ first goal, Michkov played his best game of the young season on Thursday.
He scored the Flyers’ only goal, a greasy rebound on the power play, and two of the Flyers’ six goals this season. He’s also improved a lot of the little details of his game, making a few noticeable defensive plays. Without a traditional center on the power play unit, the Flyers even had Michkov taking face-offs.
“He won a couple of draws there, so maybe there’s something there at the dot,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “I think he made a couple this year, and we said to just give him a shot.”
