Team structure needs some big time work. Lankinen had to be excellent to cover up for some very sloppy hockey. Forecheck was increasingly not there and Flyers were coming out of their zone with growing ease as the game went on. Having one of the main defensemen go down (and that spill looked ugly) was the one of the last things this team needed. Finally most of the shoot out attempts were feeble.
Good
Garland - never has a bad game. Effective in every zone. One player keeping us in the game.
Hoglander - real nice goal and good hustle to force the play in the Flyers end. Seems to wear down some as a game goes on (or maybe loses continuity given the lack of use on special teams). Might question stamina.
Lankinen - kept the team in it. Coverage in our zone was, in many cases, awful.
Blueger - providing some glue to keep the team together. Looked to be providing as much offense as anyone and PK work, per usual, was outstanding.
Hughes - thought he was good both ways. Tilted the ice in favor of the Canucks when he was out. Hronek was good as well.
Soucy - like others he was continually covering up for botched coverage by the forwards and their inability to get the puck out. Thought he moved the puck from the back well. Not perfect but he was bailing out others a lot.
Bad
Strong - not doing enough offensively to make up for defensive lapses. Got benched after the tieing goal. Might be better with Miller and Boeser. Certainly has more offensive potential than Heinen. Same old story for Sprong. Makes a mistake and he is immediately in the doghouse. If this is going to work (and that's a big IF) then needs to be played through mistakes. Not like others weren't making bad decisions. It's just that Sprong has such a bad track record.
Heinen - not good at all 5 on 5 and simply brutal on the PK . Team is doing a good job of killing penalty with players like Blueger and then they put Heinen out and the PK turns to crap.
Miller - just out of sync. Very little flow in his play. Lack of pre-season play now looks a mistake. Passing at time was very shoddy.
Others
Raty - barely threading water. Can't get ahead of the play and thus gets near nothing done.
Forbert - really wasn't that bad. Got himself forward in the neutral zone to break up plays and keep puck in the Philadelphia zone. Thought coverage was much improved
Juulsen - another who stepped up his game and played at an acceptable level. Never expect much but he was ok in this one.
Pettersson - didn't think he was terrible but almost seems now a kind of defensive player with limited offense. Beginning to believe that, at this stage of his career, this is what he is. High hopes people had now seem unwarranted. Real sad growing reality.
At this point, many of the off-season acquistions are questionable and the fears that some had of a regression, look justified.
