Game Story
The game got off to a bit of a sloppy start, with the team trading turnovers just inside their own bluelines. About halfway through the period the Philadelphia Flyers got a power play, and wasted no time. Brayden Schenn was the first to find the rebound of Shayne Gostisbehere point shot, sliding home the rebound. The Flyers were awarded another power play a few minutes later, and Jakub Voracek quickly scored, cutting to the slot and picking a corner. He scored on that play several times last year, although this was his first such goal this season.
In the second period, the Pittsburgh Penguins pushed very hard. The Flyers really had no answer, spending a ton of time in their own zone. The Pens second power play unit got the scoring started, with Trevor Daley sneaking in a shot short side. Sidney Crosby scored a few minutes later, with an absolutely perfect top shelf snipe from a tight angle that stunned Steve Mason. Phil Kessel scored the last of three goals in the period, with an easy finish after a nifty passing play on the power play.
In the third, things got no better for the Flyers. The Penguins completely dominated the first ten minutes, eventually resulting in another easy finish for Kessel on a 2-on-1. The Flyers did make the ending interesting, as Claude Giroux calmly guided in on a wrist shot for a third Flyers power play goal on the night. Despite a last minute flurry, it was too little, too late, and the Pens hung on for a 4-3 win.
Forwards
This was a pretty poor performance all around for the Flyers at 5v5. All the Flyers goals came on the power play, and the 5v5 Corsi count was a lopsided 62-35.
The Giroux line got the most ice time, but had few chances other than hitting the post early in the game. In over 10 minutes matched up against the Crosby line, they earned an approximate Corsi of 25 percent, conceding a goal as well.
The second line had to be revamped due to Sean Couturier's injury. Sam Gagner filled in, having an okay game, but he's not Couturier. This made a pretty big difference in deployment, as this Gagner line almost completely avoided the Pens top lines. In a rare moment against the Evgeni Malkin line, the Gagner line conceded one goal when Radko Gudas was caught for an odd-man rush.
The Flyers bottom six were tasked with playing against the Malkin-Kessel line, and were completely overwhelmed. The Pierre-Edouard Bellemare line had a Corsi under 10 percent against Malkin, while the Scott Laughton line was moderately better with a Corsi of 25 percent. At least neither line actually conceded a goal, however.
Defense
In a game where the Flyers were ovewhelmed at 5v5, the pair of Gudas and Michael Del Zotto took most of the brunt. This marked the third straight game of the Flyers' top pair struggling. They were minus-2, and were skunked by Crosby in shot attempts, 15-0.
Mark Streit and Nick Schultz had a relatively quiet night, which is a good thing in a game like this.
Evgeny Medvedev and Gostisbehere got the most minutes against the Pens Bottom-6 and it shows in their stats. Ghost added a power play assist as well with a good point shot to open the game's scoring.
Marc Naples is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter@SuperScrub47.
