Agreed. The looked like their skates hadn't been sharpened for weeks. But it also looked like the Flyers got out-Flyered. They had very few quick-strike rushes because the Canadiens didn't give them the neutral zone to do so. And their cycle game was blunted. Passes weren't just missing; they were going to empty spaces and out of the offensive zone.
Its something that is very common in soccer. Teams that have a very good tactic vs the top Teams and get good results in this games, often struggle against worse Teams.
Vs good Teams you can defend and counter Attack. You can have 2on1 rushes and so on. You get more free place on the field cause the opponent wants to play the game offenisvely.
Vs Bad Teams or teams on your own lvl you need to create yourself. You cant wait for counter attacks. Most of this Teams havent enough skill players to create or they arent tactical trained enough to switch between 2 different approaches.
So for me its not suprising the flyers loose games vs San Jose or Montreal. Torts has them play defense and wait for counter attacks. He hates creating offense and bench you if you try and fail. So the players arent good in creating chances vs deep structured teams. The other factor in hockey are the PPs. You can play a Bad game vs a bottom dweller, you will get 4 PPS nevertheless. Score in two of them and win the game 2:1. The flyers cant buy one goal.....
Its easy predictable
