Flyers struggle to put shots on goal in 2-1 loss to Flames
Through the first 40 minutes, the Flyers had nine shots on goal with another 14 blocked and 11 that missed the net.
Just like the press box at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the Flyers were chilly on Sunday night.
Closing out a set of weekend games, the Flyers lost 2-1 to a Calgary Flames team, which also played Saturday and entered the night with a 2-9-2 record. The Flyers (6-5-1) have now lost two straight for the first time since the first two games of the season.
Travis Konecny scored the lone goal for the Flyers, notching his fourth of the season directly off a faceoff win by Noah Cates with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left in regulation. It was just the eighth faceoff win by Cates in his first 22 draws.
After the goal, the Flyers had three shots on goal and another three shots blocked before the final buzzer. They finished the game with 18 shots on goal, including nine in the final frame.
Jonathan Huberdeau gave the Flames a 1-0 lead 2 minutes, 15 seconds into the second period. Calgary corralled the puck after Cam York got a point shot through and broke out two-on-two.
After misplaying a two-on-two on Saturday night in the 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the pairing of York and Travis Sanheim had better coverage. However, Huberdeau carried the puck and looked like he was going to cross with Yegor Sharangovich but stayed down the left side, sending a shot through the triple screen of York, Sharangovich, and Travis Sanheim from the left faceoff circle.
Huberdeau made it 2-0 in the third period with a nifty deflection on a MacKenzie Weegar point shot. The play came off a faceoff win by former Flyers forward Morgan Frost, who went to the net and helped set a screen along with Huberdeau and defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
Tocchet said “the whole morning meeting today” focused on getting pucks to the net and the power play. This bit of information came after he said on Saturday night, “We were passing up opportunities to shoot the puck, and we don’t have people going to the net. It’s probably the biggest struggle for me this year, trying to get these guys to understand that.”
“ … We’ve got to start delivering pucks. We need people to shoot the puck with people at the net. That’s probably the best offense. Yeah, the other stuff will happen after you shoot the puck, but we’re trying all this fancy stuff before that, so we’ve got to correct it, and it’s on me to get these guys to start to do that.”
Well, through the first 40 minutes, the Flyers had nine shots on goal with another 14 blocked and 11 that missed the net. They were also 0-for-1 on the power play with three shot attempts that did not hit the net.
The “fancy stuff” continue to plagued the Flyers, who had just three shots in the first period; however, they did hit the crossbar twice. In the second, Travis Konecny had an open lane but opted to pass the puck, with Egor Zamula’s shot getting snared by Flames goalie Dustin Wolf.
In the third period, Konecny had his initial shot blocked by Weegar and again opted to pass during a mad scramble and sequence in the Flames zone. It also saw Travis Sanheim and Sean Couturier’s shots get blocked by Weegar before Sanheim put a shot on goal that Wolf saved with the glove. Wolf finished with 17 saves.
Breakaways
The Flyers announced before the game that forward Tyson Foerster will miss some time with a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated in the next three-to-four days.
» READ MORE: Tyson Foerster will miss time with a lower-body injury
Up next
The Flyers’ road schedule picks up now, beginning with a two-game swing. They take on the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP) and the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8 p.m., NBCSP). Philly is 0-2-1 away from Xfinity Mobile Arena.