Post-Game Talk: ECQF 3 (Flyers lead series 2-1): FLYERS 1 vs. Canadiens 0, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020

[FLYguy3911]

Quinn Hughes with his absolute muffin of a point shot sure has that Vancouver PP buzzing.

 

[JABEE]

I will also say, I thought Braun looked a lot better tonight.

 

[Beef Invictus]

There is 1 puck. Who the f*** do you want in possession of that puck. If Ghost knew the answer he would still be on pp1. Its not hard. Get the puck to giroux and get yourself in shooting lanes

No, if we had a competent coach, then Ghost or Sanheim would be on PP1.

See, that's the whole problem. Provorov doesn't get himself into shooting lanes. He just kind of roams the blue line. And he can't set players up like we know Ghost and Sanheim can. It suppresses shooting everywhere else, too.

I love Provorov. He is one of my favorite players to watch at ES. Yet he is probably the worst player to watch as a PP regular. It's really brutal. He flat out lacks the skillset to play the PP role they're trying to force on him. For an eternity, the dman on PP1 has served as Giroux's backup. It's been guys like Pronger, Timonen, Streit (Who was a damned good PP player), and Ghost. All of them are suited for the role because they can be given the puck and then actually do a diverse range of things with it. Provorov has shown he can't. It brings down the whole PP and it's highly problematic because of how heavily involved he is.

 

[Lord Defect]

Imo it’s too late in the season to completely switch the PP up.
I’d put JVR in front of the net and tell him not to move. All your to do for one minute is stare right into Prices eyes, and make him stare into yours.
G on the left. Ghost at the point. TK on the right.
Move the puck quicker and when you do move the puck quicker, it does not help to settle the puck then think about what you’re going to do, then pass the puck again.

I don’t care about the second unit enough at this late of an hour.


The zone entries kill me though. Drop back, slingshot, drop back, slingshot, still didn’t seem favorable so drop back and slingshot again, hit the line, dump it in and chase.

 

[Striiker]

I agree with some of that. At the same time this coaching staff kept G on his off wing on the PP for almost the whole year until they switched him back and boom, points started to rack up again. My feeling is ghost can provide a lot more than hagg so why not give him the opportunity? Not having hagg in doesn’t mess up or change how the team plays he’s kind of a non factor

When I say "correct side" I'm saying the left boards, where he is now and where he's scored all his points from his whole career. When Ghost was on the unit to start the year, Giroux was on the opposite side. They actually put Giroux back on the left side the same time as they replaced Ghost with Provorov, so he never had a chance to play with Giroux and Voracek in their normal spots.

 

[Jtown]

Quinn Hughes with his absolute muffin of a point shot sure has that Vancouver PP buzzing.

what a dumb pointless and frankly antagonistic comments this is. Any other opinions of the subtle difference between apples and oranges you want to grace us with?

 

[achdumeingute]

I don't know what people expect, we're gonna play Farabee and Frost and outskate Montreal?
This was playoff hockey, it's ugly but a win is a win.
Maybe you didn't notice, but the Habs approach was they can't call everything a penalty, it was like a time warp, they were holding, tripping, hooking with disdain for the refs. Farabee and Frost would have been eaten alive.

Raffl had a heck of a game, his timing was off and he didn't have a lot of help, but he was constantly involved in the play.
Playing Raffl and Hagg changed the tone, the Flyers were more physical, they weren't the only reason, but they had an impact.

Yes, Thompson is bad, except he wins a key faceoff in his own zone protecting a 1-0 against a 6 on 5 at the end of the game, sometimes it's when you do something good, not how often.

Flyers were taking the body for the first time on a consistent basis, and yes, it does wear down an opponent.

Voracek can joke about scoring goals without his stick, but he'd better commit to a PF role, because his skills are eroding and if he doesn't use the body, fore-check and back-check, he should be benched. Blind passes over the middle are a gift to the Habs.

Sanheim and Myers must have watched their film from Friday, b/c they were possessed, especially Sanheim who showed some cojones.

Hayes can be frustrating, but he probably had more zone entries than the rest of the team combined. It would help if his forwards got off their asses and gave him someone to pass the puck to.

TK has regressed in the playoffs, though he is shooting more and not forcing passes in traffic, bad retaliation penalty and probably the worst Flyer on the PP. He really isn't a very instinctive player.

Yeah it was butt ugly, but that 's what Montreal wants, frustrate you into bad decisions then jump on your mistakes and let Price win the game - they're just not used to a team willing to get into the mud with them, and who have a goalie just as good. You have to grind them down over a 6/7 game series until they lose a step and the floodgates open.

Playoff hockey: "Just win baby."

PS: Would someone tell our forwards when you dump the puck in, that Price is probably the best puck handling goalie in the NHL? So don't try those plays where you send it around the back of the goal - b/c it never gets there!

aside from TK regression (his penalty was bad agree)...I largely agree with you. Carey Price is on...and I remember him tonight starting quite a few rushes.

Totally agree they are all about pressure. They are going to keep the penalties coming if we can't score on the PP.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I feel like we could ice an at least semi-passable PP2 with some combination of Sanheim, Farabee, TK, and Frost. It's not like it could be worse than what we currently have.

Then get rid of Provorov and replace TK on the top unit with JVR and just plop him in front of the net, obviously.

It looks like they didn't practice the PP until the last day of training camp. Oh wait that actually happened.

 

[Bigb47]

When I say "correct side" I'm saying the left boards, where he is now and where he's scored all his points from his whole career. When Ghost was on the unit to start the year, Giroux was on the opposite side. They actually put Giroux back on the left side the same time as they replaced Ghost with Provorov, so he never had a chance to play with Giroux and Voracek in their normal spots.

Ok yeah I thought so, sorry sometimes I read faster then my brain can keep up with lol. So are you agreeing that it would be a good idea to try him with G on the left side and Voracek in his normal spot?

 

[Striiker]

wait,wait,wait.... did we really scratch Ghost for bosshogg this game ??

i was unable to watch today, plz tell me theres a REAL reason

Nope. Hak is coach again.

-Ghost
-Farabee

+Hagg
+Raffl

Thompson still in and the 4th line had the most 5v5 time of any line, despite getting absolutely destroyed all night.
Luckily the top line and Sanheim-Myers pair carried, plus Hart was good.

 

[Striiker]

It looks like they didn't practice the PP until the last day of training camp. Oh wait that actually happened.

It looks like the coaches went into it without looking at any tape from previous year. Oh wait that actually happened too.

 

[deadhead]

The problem with putting JVR in front of the net is he's never looked comfortable doing that, his area is in the box (between the two faceoff circles and the crease) and firing shots from 5-10' away. Not in the crease setting screens and trying to plant rebounds.

Voracek has been trying to play that role, he got lucky tonight but he is showing courage, problem is he has below average hands, so anything he scores from there is blind luck.

The PP didn't go downhill b/c of coaches, it when downhill when they traded Schenn and Simmonds fell off the proverbial cliff, who is a goal scorer on our PP? No one. And putting Ghost in there won't change a damn thing until you address that issue.

 

[achdumeingute]

wait,wait,wait.... did we really scratch Ghost for bosshogg this game ??

i was unable to watch today, plz tell me theres a REAL reason

yes ghost was benched for Hagg.

I didn't look at stats, but id wager it wasnt Haggs worst game.

Niskanen has been baaad.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

@deadhead Please, I beg you. Don't make the Thompson came up big on one Faceoff argument on the night he played essentially the same amount of 5v5 time as Couturier. That renders all situational usage arguments null and void.

 

[JABEE]

I like Raffl as a deflector with good skills up front. He's big and he can cause some issues.

 

[flyerslducks]

Niskanen....below 43% CF with every player except provorov...his GF below 40 for every player except provorov/pitlick

Laughton....below 35% CF with every player...his GF was a bit better

grant desperately needs to be on the bottom 6. I like him in a pk, FO, and surrounded by +possession guys ONLY.



The fact that after two periods of 0% CF for raffl, thompson, and pitlick can equate to better than grant and almost similar to everyone in the bottom 9 is EMBARASSING.

 

[achdumeingute]

The problem with putting JVR in front of the net is he's never looked comfortable doing that, his area is in the box (between the two faceoff circles and the crease) and firing shots from 5-10' away. Not in the crease setting screens and trying to plant rebounds.

Voracek has been trying to play that role, he got lucky tonight but he is showing courage, problem is he has below average hands, so anything he scores from there is blind luck.

The PP didn't go downhill b/c of coaches, it when downhill when they traded Schenn and Simmonds fell off the proverbial cliff, who is a goal scorer on our PP? No one. And putting Ghost in there won't change a damn thing until you address that issue.

shrug. jVR seems to be pretty good at exactly that. He gets his fair share of rebounds and tips.

 

[Jtown]

No, if we had a competent coach, then Ghost or Sanheim would be on PP1.

See, that's the whole problem. Provorov doesn't get himself into shooting lanes. He just kind of roams the blue line. And he can't set players up like we know Ghost and Sanheim can. It suppresses shooting everywhere else, too.

I love Provorov. He is one of my favorite players to watch at ES. Yet he is probably the worst player to watch as a PP regular. It's really brutal. He flat out lacks the skillset to play the PP role they're trying to force on him. For an eternity, the dman on PP1 has served as Giroux's backup. It's been guys like Pronger, Timonen, Streit (Who was a damned good PP player), and Ghost. All of them are suited for the role because they can be given the puck and then actually do a diverse range of things with it. Provorov has shown he can't. It brings down the whole PP and it's highly problematic because of how heavily involved he is.

If ghost got his head out of his ass and allowed giroux to run the pp and set him up for one timers then he would be the best pp dman in the game. Ghost for all of 2018 was so selfish with the puck. itme and time again he would attempt stupid shots that would never get through instead of getting it to the future hall of famer and and allow him to run the pp. Provorov has one elite skill on the PP and that is his shot. Thats it but its also the one skill that we don't have at any other position on the PP. Our PP is in big trouble and teams are starting to really understand that we don't the weapons we once had.

 

[Striiker]

Ok yeah I thought so, sorry sometimes I read faster then my brain can keep up with lol. So are you agreeing that it would be a good idea to try him with G on the left side and Voracek in his normal spot?

Yes, I'm 100% agreeing with that.

In fact, I think I've complained about them needing to do exactly that in every single game thread we've had this year.

 

[flyerslducks]

@deadhead Please, I beg you. Don't make the Thompson came up big on one Faceoff argument on the night he played essentially the same amount of 5v5 time as Couturier. That renders all situational usage arguments null and void.

this might be the most frustrating thing about tonight...all of those essential faceoffs and he only won against KK on his off side. Suzuki owned thompson when it mattered and won 3/4 faceoffs on the pk and late in the game. We used to deploy Couts and G for those types of faceoffs (or 2 strong side centers) but now we have a hard on for thompson.

Also, the most deflating thing about tonight was that raffl was put on the 2lw instead of other players and GRANT WAS USED ON THE PP. If the coaching staff think that grant is having a great game compared to the rest of the bottom 6 then we are trully f***ed.

 

[deadhead]

@deadhead Please, I beg you. Don't make the Thompson came up big on one Faceoff argument on the night he played essentially the same amount of 5v5 time as Couturier. That renders all situational usage arguments null and void.

Except in these kind of games it does matter, imagine Frost taking that key faceoff.

I'm not saying it justifies playing Thompson, I'd prefer Bunnaman (but not Frost, who I don't think could handle the Hab's forecheck). Just that it is a reality, some players fold under late game pressure. Like the middle reliever who can't pitch the 8th or 9th inning.

 

[JABEE]

If ghost got his head out of his ass and allowed giroux to run the pp and set him up for one timers then he would be the best pp dman in the game. Ghost for all of 2018 was so selfish with the puck. itme and time again he would attempt stupid shots that would never get through instead of getting it to the future hall of famer and and allow him to run the pp. Provorov has one elite skill on the PP and that is his shot. Thats it but its also the one skill that we don't have at any other position on the PP. Our PP is in big trouble and teams are starting to really understand that we don't the weapons we once had.

I think Sanheim could potentially be a weapon they could utilize on 1st PP. He has a really good shot and he is a great passer with vision. He can do things which create space and take some of the pressure off Giroux to do everything.

 

[flyerslducks]

imo suzuki is what I envisioned patrick to be and he definitely could've been better (still can) but it sucks to see suzuki pass him right now...

 

[achdumeingute]

Imo it’s too late in the season to completely switch the PP up.
I’d put JVR in front of the net and tell him not to move. All your to do for one minute is stare right into Prices eyes, and make him stare into yours.
G on the left. Ghost at the point. TK on the right.
Move the puck quicker and when you do move the puck quicker, it does not help to settle the puck then think about what you’re going to do, then pass the puck again.

I don’t care about the second unit enough at this late of an hour.


The zone entries kill me though. Drop back, slingshot, drop back, slingshot, still didn’t seem favorable so drop back and slingshot again, hit the line, dump it in and chase.

part of the problem ATM is Carey Price. He's playing the puck like a 6th dman and the Habs know this...

 

[flyerslducks]

i really hope lindblom coming can fix the bottom 6 but the way I see it....he might just be put on the 4th line to get his conditioning back. Until the coahces can give me some confidence, I don't know man...scary times lol