The Flyers weren’t just dominated in Game 1. Carolina wouldn’t fall for their baiting, and that’s a bad sign.
Carolina's 3-0 win in Game 1 ushered in a cold reality for the Flyers: They aren't playing the Pittsburgh Penguins anymore.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Nick Seeler had just cross-checked two Carolina Hurricanes, knocking Eric Robinson to the ice and hitting Mark Jankowski in the mug, handing the best team in the Eastern Conference a first-period power play Saturday night. Now it sure seemed that he was trying to goad his way out of that gaffe. He began jawing at and shoving Jankowski, and if Jankowski would just retaliate, just lose his cool for a moment and get called for a penalty himself, Seeler would have succeeded in evening things out for the Flyers, at least for a little while.
» READ MORE: Flyers can’t weather Hurricanes’ early storm, lose 3-0 in Game 1
Except Jankowski was too smart and disciplined to play along. He skated away, and though the Hurricanes didn’t score on the ensuing man-advantage, the scene captured the challenge that the Flyers will face in merely staying in this second-round series, let alone finding some way of winning it.
Even a hockey novice could watch Carolina’s 3-0 victory in Game 1 here at the Lenovo Center and pick up on the cold reality for the Flyers: They aren’t playing the Pittsburgh Penguins anymore. The Hurricanes ranked second in the NHL in goals scored and tied for fifth in goals against during the regular season, then spent Saturday night demonstrating that their weeklong layoff after sweeping the Ottawa Senators had made them fresher and stronger, not rusty or sloppy.
They appeared to have an extra skater on the ice at all times, overwhelming the Flyers with constant pressure, making it difficult for them to carry the puck through the neutral zone or connect on the cleanest and simplest of passes. Two of Carolina’s goals, both by Logan Stankoven, were direct results of Flyers turnovers by Matvei Michkov and Noah Juulsen — the kinds of soft plays that are unacceptable against any playoff opponent but will get the Flyers killed against this team.
“I don’t know if we were mentally prepared to play tonight in the sense that — that [Pittsburgh] series, not making the playoffs, I think there was a lot of excitement,“ Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. ”I don’t think we got down to earth quick enough for this game. That’s what happens, right? Your legs aren’t there."
This was a stinging indictment of a young team from its head coach, but the Flyers’ performance warranted having Tocchet call out his players for celebrating their recent success a little too long. Nothing the Hurricanes did Saturday night was a secret. They played in the manner they always do. The Flyers knew what was coming and couldn’t handle it.
“There are some different things and keys we talked about,” center Noah Cates said. “We’ve got to be strong in focusing on the details of the game. If they’re cycling and we’re throwing pucks [away], it’ll be a long night. They’ll come at you in waves.”
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But the Flyers won’t hold their own against the Hurricanes by trying to go stride for stride and goal for goal with them. No, they were always going to have to get them off their game, shake them up, make them so frustrated or irritated that some cracks might start to form in that aggressive and airtight system that coach Rod Brind’Amour preaches and teaches. They pulled that trick off against Pittsburgh — that Game 3 melee, Travis Konecny burrowing tick-like under several Penguins’ skin throughout that series — but Carolina, based on Game 1, won’t be lured into anything undisciplined and dumb.
“We’re going to have to be physical,” Tocchet had said early Saturday afternoon. “We have to play through people. We’re not necessarily looking for huge hits, but Carolina is a man-on-man team. We call it one vs. one. It’s winning your battles. I’m not sure Carolina’s a big scrum team. There were a lot of scrums in our series [against Pittsburgh]. I’m not a big scrum guy. Depends on how it happens. But you want to hold your ground. Carolina will play tough, but I think they’re a whistle-to-whistle team. We’ve got to play the same way.”
» READ MORE: The Flyers are good again, and the NHL is better for it.
They didn’t. It wasn’t just Seeler in the first period. It was Trevor Zegras with just more than eight minutes left in the third, elbowing Jackson Blake, then cross-checking him in the back while Blake was on all fours, earning two minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct. It was Konecny mucking it up seconds later with Taylor Hall but failing to bait him. It was Seeler getting a game misconduct with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left for going after Shayne Gostisbehere, apropos of nothing. It was after-the-whistle stuff that came off as desperate.
“We know it’s going to be a long series,” Konecny said, “and anytime you can finish a guy — whenever it is, go to the net, a D blocks you out, get in front of the goalie — it’s just a reminder for next game that we’re not going to go down easy."
It shouldn’t be surprising that the Flyers felt compelled to play this way. Hell, it’s practically excusable. It might be the only chance they have. Owen Tippett, maybe their most dynamic forward, sat out Game 1 with an injury, the nature of which the team won’t reveal. The Flyers’ power play is worse than terrible; they didn’t register a single shot on goal in their first three Saturday night. No more Sidney Crosby in the twilight. No more shaky goaltending from Stuart Skinner. The Carolina Hurricanes are something much different and much more difficult, and if the Flyers don’t smarten up and tighten up quickly, they won’t merely lose this series. It won’t even be close.
