Flyers takeaways: Defense bends but doesn’t break, David Jiříček impresses vs. Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia ― The Flyers almost blew another game but held off the NHL basement-dwelling Vancouver Canucks for a 3-1 victory.

It’s a small step but could prove a building block for a team that needs wins and its mojo back.

“Yeah, it’s a win, right? You can build on those for sure,” winger Travis Konecny said. “I think it was big for us to finish out that third period. We’ve been in those spots where we should have won games in the last couple, and we didn’t finish them. So yeah, can look at that and maybe give us confidence so we can close them out.”

Here are three things we learned.

» READ MORE: Flyers snap three-game losing streak with 3-1 win over NHL-worst Canucks

After two straight demoralizing losses despite being up by a goal heading into the third period of each game, you’d think the Flyers would have learned their lesson.

Well, they did not.

In the first two periods, the Flyers forechecked hard, got sticks in lanes, stole pucks, created turnovers, and played aggressively at both ends of the ice. They had 70.8% of the shot attempts.

However, once Tyson Foerster’s goal 25 seconds into the third period, which would have made it 3-0, was overturned on a coach’s challenge for offside, it felt like the air was sucked out of the Flyers game. It truly felt like they didn’t think their 2-0 lead was safe, and it wasn’t.

How bad did it get? Let’s count the ways:

The Canucks made it a one-goal game on Bunting’s penalty, and while those are just the analytics and numbers, by the eye test, they lost what set them far apart from the home team in the first two periods. That strong forecheck and stick checking that helped stake them to a two-goal lead disappeared.

“Teams are going to have their pushes, and you’ve got to be able to handle them,” Konecny said. “We played pretty good the first two [periods], and then they found their legs in the third. And sometimes it’s not pretty; you’ve got to find a way. But yeah, we would like to be able to counter and put some pressure back on them.”

Could getting a win like this propel the Flyers forward? Maybe.

There’s no arguing the Canucks are the worst team in the NHL, but good teams, even great ones, can lose on any given night. And backed by Woll, who stopped 18 of 19 shots and was stellar again, especially when facing an onslaught in the third, the Flyers followed a mantra used a ton last season: bending but not breaking.

“I think we knew this was a big game, and I thought we came in ... the first two periods were great, and then obviously some penalties there; so I think that’s why the shot clock was dictated [like] that,” said Bunting. “Killed off every one except for one, and yeah, I thought that [third period] was a learning, growing part of the game, and I thought it was really good that we stuck together and got the win.”

Aside from another near third-period collapse, maybe the bigger problem is that the Flyers just cannot score.

In the first two periods, they had so many Grade-A’s — 19 scoring chances and 12 high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick — that it felt like at any moment they would bury the Canucks.

They did not.

Bunting, playing in his first game since Oct. 27, easily scored on the Flyers’ second shot on goal as he followed up a broken pass to center Christian Dvorak. It seemed to spark the Flyers as they kept coming in waves.

They got under the Canucks skin, and Porter Martone drew a roughing penalty on Linus Karlsson just under two minutes after Bunting’s goal. It seemed like destiny for the offense to explode.

Instead, Canucks goalie Leevi Meriläinen only needed to save eight other shots in the first period. The Flyers missed the night five times, notably when Konecny cut to the middle and shot wide as he fell, and Trevor Zegras followed it up with a wide shot off the carom. Noah Cates scooped up his own rebound and got around Meriläinen but was robbed by the stick of Canucks forward Drew O’Connor. And with 20 seconds left, Sean Couturier stole the puck and set up Martone for a shot into the Canucks goalie.

In the second period, Cates hit the crossbar on a delayed call on the defenseman Elias Pettersson — yes, the Canucks have two Elias Petterssons, with the other being the often-talked-about center. And Cates later, who tied Foerster and Martone for the team-high in shot attempts (six), was robbed of a wraparound by a sliding Luke Schenn. Foerster later missed a wide-open net from atop the crease, and Matvei Michkov, who had a strong 200-foot game, missed on a redirect as he cut through the slot.

Tocchet said on Saturday in Calgary that he wanted his team to be shot-oriented. They were, but still couldn’t finish and are now ranked 31st in goals per game despite playing one of their better forechecking games of the season.

“Yeah, I thought it was a lot better,” Sanheim said of the Flyers’ structure. “I thought breakouts were a lot better. Regroups were quick. [We were] playing fast, and then just the forecheck; I think they had a lot of trouble with it. Our guys were hounding pucks, and you could tell it was making a difference, and we were generating more offense that way.”

Despite not playing since Oct. 19 — an eight-game span of healthy scratches — David Jiříček re-entered the lineup on the third defensive pairing with Nick Seeler and played well. He skated 13:23, including 14 seconds on the power play that ended with Konecny scoring, and he was credited with one hit.

Coach Rick Tocchet said recently that he wanted to see him “try to limit the bad mistakes, not the little ones, the big ones. And I think maybe go back with the puck a little bit quicker, [and with the] outlet pass, and then on the blue line be real sure of yourself. ‘I’ve got this. I’m going to take a shot.’ Use your talent.”

He did that.

The Czech blueliner had three shot attempts and two shots on goal; in the first period he put a smart low shot that created a rebound, and in the second period, a one-timer with traffic in front.

» READ MORE: Revisiting the Flyers-Wild trade that sent Bobby Brink home and David Jiříček to Philly

Jiříček told The Inquirer last week that he was working on his skating, not overthinking and “just staying in the game in my head” while out of the lineup. He knew it wouldn’t be easy once he got back in because mistakes can take him out just as quickly.

But the defenseman played a strong game. He made quick decisions on clears and passes, notably a smart clear off the glass in the first period before, a few seconds later, hitting Sean Couturier in stride in the neutral zone after a regroup. Also in the first, he outmuscled Marco Rossi for the puck in the corner of the Flyers’ zone.

“I thought he did a nice job,” Tocchet said postgame. “I thought he got up in the play, played the game simple, had a couple of good shots.”

According to Natural Stat Trick, when he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers had 21 shot attempts, eight scoring chances, and a team-high .94 expected goals. In comparison, the opposition had 10 shot attempts, two scoring chances, and zero high-danger chances.

While he may struggle against quicker teams and need to play sheltered minutes like the 9:20 he played against the Colorado Avalanche in his last game, the 22-year-old defenseman put in work while out and should get more opportunities to grow his skills in a game setting.