GDT: #44 | Panthers vs Flyers | Monday, Jan 13, 2025 | 7:00 PM | NBCSP, 97.5 FM

[deadhead]

That was a heck of a game, nice stretch of games against top teams, with only the Dallas game as a lemon.

Frost is playing real well on one level, and badly on another. He's going to the net on a regular basis and making things happen, but he's been snakebit in a weird way, had two fluke goals the last few weeks but couldn't score on dozens of legitimate chances, now he gets one on the PP. But he seems disconnected as a center 5x5, 8 goals but only 2 primary assists at ES. Maybe he is a LW. What would make that weirder was that Cates seemed destined to LW after a strong finish last year but is playing well at center this year. Go figure.

But you can see why Torts has been reluctant to play Frost with a lead in close games. He and Michkov were leaking scoring chances when they were together - something doesn't quite click, maybe he's just not strong enough on the puck and can get checked off it in the D-zone.

That Cates goal was a thing of beauty, but what's really improved this year is his passing, he's keeping his head up and looking for linemates. Always was good at puck retrieval and control, now he's combining it with a more aggressive approach to playmaking. Again, playing the opposing team's top center.

Poehling has also improved, he still looks clunky at times, but is getting it done at center.

Ersson showed how important goalies have been this year, two bad goals the first period put them in a hole, great goalie play gave them a win.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Attended this one. Had a great time. Go Team Go!

Another game I’ve attended that started 2-0.

How many wieners?

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

How many wieners?

3.

 

[Boocowski]

How did Cates get this good this year? Whatever he's eating, feed it to the rest of them.

Excellent game, excellent win.

 

[Magua]

But he was and is limited with his lack of skill. I mean, the goal he had tonight was the definition of sick and takes good hands to do that… but in the first period, he lost the puck, when he was completely unchecked in front of Bob. He’s butchered multiple chances due to lack of skill… but I can live with that because he has such strong other qualities in his game.

It’s all a matter of opportunity cost and hierarchy of importance. Cates is a valuable depth player. Is Cates’ offense going back to 38 points level the most essential developmental swing? No, no it is not. But it might be to Tortorella with how much he brings it up. No one with a straight face can tell me Luchanko-Cates is anything but a future bottom 5 center core. It’s a bigger picture thing than just Cates.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I never had Cates as JAG status. He was always a valuable player, with good metrics.

But he was and is limited with his lack of skill. I mean, the goal he had tonight was the definition of sick and takes good hands to do that… but in the first period, he lost the puck, when he was completely unchecked in front of Bob. He’s butchered multiple chances due to lack of skill… but I can live with that because he has such strong other qualities in his game.

Two of his strongest pass setups this year have been accidental, which is pretty hilarious.

 

[Danko]

View attachment 960540

Where's the guy who assaulted the Leafs fans when we need him?

Was this a plant? Are they hiring actors

 

[mize370]

I watched the last few minutes and was only joking. Saw him turn that puck over right in the slot, but luckily Ersson made 3 great saves.

Ya. That was bad there. Agreed.

 

[ellja3]

My simplistic Excel says this is a guaranteed loss

Whoops So first win in 10 games vs team w .600+ record (per today's standings)

 

[ugiswrong]

I feel like with Catesey he took like ballroom dancing classes or something because he jukes like he wants to crossover like AI but really it comes over as a quickstep cha cha cha. Combine that with paso doble playmaking and we have a supreme level 3C

 

[ellja3]

I'd be happier if they lost; looking at the standings and how we play and the teams ahead of us my very very very naive PO hopes have been broken. Balinskis goal + MM point + PHI loss would had been perfect. Happy for Cates tho.

 

[kudymen]

Beating a strong conf team - 5 pages GDT
Having a night to harass a 20yr old kid - 20 pages

Thats just laughable.

 

[Breeze 44]

Bad start but good finish...good game.

 

[ellja3]

Beating a strong conf team - 5 pages GDT
Having a night to harass a 20yr old kid - 20 pages

Thats just laughable.

I don't like it that much either, but let's face it - 9 nights out of 10 this team is awfully boring. The Gauthier s--show was at least something lively.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

I'm psyched out of my line for the Laughton-Jett-Cates first line in a couple years.

Jett is righty so he is gonna slide over to the wing just the asme as laughton.

 

[VladDrag]

It was a fun game to watch -- That's all I'm asking for. A few notes:

- I hope Torts sticks with these lines for a bit. I like Michkov with Couts. I want Lycksell to stay in the lineup for 20 games, but I just don't see that happening without a roster player trade. Farabee needs to get back into the lineup.
- Frost's line was good. Frost was their best until that awful pass lol...It really is a good combination of players. Frost has a guy in TK who can take advantage of his vision, and Tippett's strengths are maximized playing with TK.
- I was mostly happy with PP player deployment. The 1st pp is about as good as you can expect given who is making the decisions. I'm not a fan of Frost in a netfront role, but he has scored a nice goal last night. I think he's a much better 1/2 wall player. It was also nice to see Sanheim great immediately rewarded on the PP as well. I don't like 2 defenseman on the PP, and think they have a better chance scoring goals if hey were to replace Risto with Couts for example.
- At 5v5, this game is a quintessential representation of Torts-era hockey. At 5v5, the Flyers got out shot attempted 45-29, but blocked 21 of those attempts (that's 47%, which is basically double the NHL average). Tonight, a good showing on the powerplay is what won this game. I don't particularly like the approach to 5v5 that Torts takes, but I can live with it if the powerplay is actually a functioning unit...I have my doubts.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Beating a strong conf team - 5 pages GDT
Having a night to harass a 20yr old kid - 20 pages

Thats just laughable.

The site did break for it, but yes, for a big chunk of the fan base they've forgotten what meaningful hockey actually is based on general online takes towards Cutter. Tortorella isn't right often, but he was completely correct in his take on that nonsense.

 

[MJL66]

That was a heck of a game, nice stretch of games against top teams, with only the Dallas game as a lemon.

Frost is playing real well on one level, and badly on another. He's going to the net on a regular basis and making things happen, but he's been snakebit in a weird way, had two fluke goals the last few weeks but couldn't score on dozens of legitimate chances, now he gets one on the PP. But he seems disconnected as a center 5x5, 8 goals but only 2 primary assists at ES. Maybe he is a LW. What would make that weirder was that Cates seemed destined to LW after a strong finish last year but is playing well at center this year. Go figure.

But you can see why Torts has been reluctant to play Frost with a lead in close games. He and Michkov were leaking scoring chances when they were together - something doesn't quite click, maybe he's just not strong enough on the puck and can get checked off it in the D-zone.

That Cates goal was a thing of beauty, but what's really improved this year is his passing, he's keeping his head up and looking for linemates. Always was good at puck retrieval and control, now he's combining it with a more aggressive approach to playmaking. Again, playing the opposing team's top center.

Poehling has also improved, he still looks clunky at times, but is getting it done at center.

Ersson showed how important goalies have been this year, two bad goals the first period put them in a hole, great goalie play gave them a win.

Frost was strong defensively away from the puck last season. Not so much this season. The Flyers won because they got some key saves late and scored 2 PP goals. The Flyers will lose that game 9 out of 10 times.The majority of the team got outplayed severely in this game. The top defense pairing was a mess. The Flyers just got the better of the high danger quality chances and won the game but not a sustainable model. Florida's goaltending has been poor and they gave up too many high quality chances. That's the area that Florida needs to clean up.

 

[flyersnorth]

It was a fun game to watch -- That's all I'm asking for. A few notes:

- I hope Torts sticks with these lines for a bit. I like Michkov with Couts. I want Lycksell to stay in the lineup for 20 games, but I just don't see that happening without a roster player trade. Farabee needs to get back into the lineup.
- Frost's line was good. Frost was their best until that awful pass lol...It really is a good combination of players. Frost has a guy in TK who can take advantage of his vision, and Tippett's strengths are maximized playing with TK.
- I was mostly happy with PP player deployment. The 1st pp is about as good as you can expect given who is making the decisions. I'm not a fan of Frost in a netfront role, but he has scored a nice goal last night. I think he's a much better 1/2 wall player. It was also nice to see Sanheim great immediately rewarded on the PP as well. I don't like 2 defenseman on the PP, and think they have a better chance scoring goals if hey were to replace Risto with Couts for example.
- At 5v5, this game is a quintessential representation of Torts-era hockey. At 5v5, the Flyers got out shot attempted 45-29, but blocked 21 of those attempts (that's 47%, which is basically double the NHL average). Tonight, a good showing on the powerplay is what won this game. I don't particularly like the approach to 5v5 that Torts takes, but I can live with it if the powerplay is actually a functioning unit...I have my doubts.

The only other tweak I'd make to the lineup is sit Zamula and bring up Andrae.

Send Kolosov down, and if he leaves, he leaves. He can't hold the roster hostage like this.

 

[VladDrag]

Frost was strong defensively away from the puck last season. Not so much this season.

For what it's worth, he has very similar metrics (Hockeyviz and Evolving-Hockey anyways) from last year to this year.

The only other tweak I'd make to the lineup is sit Zamula and bring up Andrae.

Send Kolosov down, and if he leaves, he leaves. He can't hold the roster hostage like this.

I don't think Zamula has been that bad to be honest. He's playing reasonably well, but I do agree that Andrae belongs in the NHL at this point.

 

[flyersnorth]

That was a very entertaining game. Flyers outplayed them for most of it, and really, the two Panthers goals in the first were more self-inflicted than anything.

Nice to see Ersson come up with a fantastic flurry of saves when they really needed it.

 

[flyersnorth]

I don't think Zamula has been that bad to be honest. He's playing reasonably well, but I do agree that Andrae belongs in the NHL at this point.

Agreed - Zamula hasn't been bad, but he's clearly a #5/6 at best right now. The organization, according to Charlie, thinks there is more upside.

I just think the team looks and skates better with Andrae, and as a fan, that's what I want to watch.

How much of it is that they legitimately think Zamula belongs in the lineup on a nightly basis versus he is Russian and helps acclimate and interpret for Michkov? I'm guessing a not-insignificant amount is the Russian factor.

 

[VladDrag]

Agreed - Zamula hasn't been bad, but he's clearly a #5/6 at best right now. The organization, according to Charlie, thinks there is more upside.

I just think the team looks and skates better with Andrae, and as a fan, that's what I want to watch.

How much of it is that they legitimately think Zamula belongs in the lineup on a nightly basis versus he is Russian and helps acclimate and interpret for Michkov? I'm guessing a not-insignificant amount is the Russian factor.

I don't know how much it helps (the Russian factor).

My personal opinion is that Torts just doesn't like Andrea's game as much as he likes Zamula. It has appeared to me in the past that Torts really likes Zamula and his attitude (this is based on previous press conferences - mostly last year).

 

[BillDineen]

Agreed - Zamula hasn't been bad, but he's clearly a #5/6 at best right now. The organization, according to Charlie, thinks there is more upside.

I just think the team looks and skates better with Andrae, and as a fan, that's what I want to watch.

How much of it is that they legitimately think Zamula belongs in the lineup on a nightly basis versus he is Russian and helps acclimate and interpret for Michkov? I'm guessing a not-insignificant amount is the Russian factor.

I think they imagine Zamula will have a summer like Sanheim did sooner than later, bulk up, and take his game to another level.

 

[MJL66]

For what it's worth, he has very similar metrics (Hockeyviz and Evolving-Hockey anyways) from last year to this year.

Frost GA/60 this season 3.4. Last season GA/60 1.91

Agreed - Zamula hasn't been bad, but he's clearly a #5/6 at best right now. The organization, according to Charlie, thinks there is more upside.

I just think the team looks and skates better with Andrae, and as a fan, that's what I want to watch.

How much of it is that they legitimately think Zamula belongs in the lineup on a nightly basis versus he is Russian and helps acclimate and interpret for Michkov? I'm guessing a not-insignificant amount is the Russian factor.

Andrae significantly upgraded their puck retrievals and out let passes when he was up. I just think they don't like his size. He is the teams 3rd best defenseman in my opinion. It's ridiculous that he is not up and playing.