Schenn: Flyers must get creative on offense
WASHINGTON - The Flyers believe the blueprint for tying their first-round playoff series with Washington is simple: more discipline, more offensive creativity, more traffic in front of Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.
WASHINGTON - The Flyers believe the blueprint for tying their first-round playoff series with Washington is simple: more discipline, more offensive creativity, more traffic in front of Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.
The teams will meet in Game 2 at the Verizon Center on Saturday night.
The Flyers managed just eight shots over the last two periods in their 2-0 loss in Thursday's opener. They also allowed Washington six of the last seven power-play chances.
That has to change if the Flyers are going to return home with a split of the first two games.
"Don't be afraid to make plays," forward Brayden Schenn said when asked what the Flyers needed to do to create more attack time. "I think we kind of got away from that a little bit. Maybe get some more creativity. Obviously, their D and forwards did a good job of back-pressuring gaps and it forced us to maybe chip in pucks when we really didn't want to."
Schenn said when the Flyers get the puck down low, "we have to get more creative down there and find ways to maybe beat guys off the wall. Try to find that open ice to generate some scoring chances."
"It all starts with moving our feet," Schenn said. "If we move our feet and don't allow them to hit us and pin us in and get their two, three or four guys in there like they want and create a scrum . . . We have to find ways, maybe a couple of give-and-gos . . . and hopefully it generates chances for us."
Despite their lack of offense, "it was a 1-0 game with four minutes to go, so we were right there," Schenn said. "The thing is, we still feel like we can get a whole lot better."
One of the ways: Getting more traffic in front of Holtby.
"He's going to make the first save. We all know that," Schenn said. "He's pretty calm and steady back there, and it's up to us forwards to try and get some traffic and tips and try to create some havoc on him and make it miserable on Holtby."
The Flyers controlled the early part of the game and had a 10-4 shots advantage late in the first period. The Capitals outshot them, 27-9, the rest of the way.
The Flyers gave the Caps a total of six power plays over the last two periods. That prevented the visitors from gaining any offensive rhythm.
"It kind of disrupted the momentum that we gained after the first period," said goalie Steve Mason, who played brilliantly in the loss. "Overall, we just have to manage the game a little better and put the first game behind us pretty quickly."
The Flyers finished with 19 shots Thursday. In four regular-season games against the Caps, they averaged 30 shots and 1.75 goals (excluding a shootout goal) per game.
"You're not going to get a lot of opportunities against this team," coach Dave Hakstol said. "They're excellent defensively, but we have to work to generate one or two more opportunities and then at the end of the day, you try to capitalize."
