Flyers have long history of shootout struggles

 

 

Not even a shooting gallery could save the Flyers from the dreaded shootout on Tuesday night. The Flyers took 42 shots in 65 minutes of play against the Ducks, including

 

But only three of those 42 shots beat Frederik Andersen, sending the game to the skills competition of doom.

 

Since the origin of the shootout, following the 2004 NHL Lockout, the Flyers have the second-fewest wins by virtue of the shooting in the NHL with 27. The Hurricanes are the only team trailing the Flyers with 26. Overall, the Flyers are 27-53 in shootouts.

 

The Flyers struggle in shootouts originally stemmed from the goalie carousel that was happening within the organization. Not even a long-term deal with Ilya Bryzgalov and the emergence of Steve Mason as the team's goalie for the foreseeable future have changed the results.

 

In Tuesday's shootout, the Flyers got the usual patented moves of Claude Giroux, which did help force an extra round. But a rather simple approach from Jake Voracek, Matt Read and Sean Couturier allowed the Ducks to take the victory with a goal from rookie William Karlsson.

 

In the first four games of the season, the Flyers have yet to win a game. But twice, their lack of ability in the shootout has cost them the extra point.

 

The Flyers seem to lack the skill on the shooting end of shootouts. On Monday, the Flyers worked on shootouts in practice. Only instead of Mason or Ray Emery taking the shot, the son of Flyers GM Ron Hextall, 18-year-old Jeff, was tending net. The Flyers couldn't score.

 

"You can look it up – the last year we were good at it," head coach Craig Berube said. "I don't know when it was. A long time ago."

 

Whatever the reason for the Flyers struggles in shootouts, they recognize where this has hurt them.

 

"Obviously, we lose a lot of points in the shootouts," Voracek said. "We just got to work, work, work and get better at it."

 

Of course, another way for the Flyers to get the benefit of the shootouts is to avoid them completely with 60-minute efforts. That was what Giroux preached following the loss.

 

"The game that we play all three periods we're going to be dangerous," the Flyers captain said.

 

But there will be games like Tuesday's where the Flyers have to fight for every goal and somehow force the shootout just to earn the chance at a win. On those games, they need improved success in the skills competition.

 

It was designed to be exciting. It is the opposite for the Flyers and their fans. But it is a part of the game and has been for almost 10 full seasons. It's time for the Flyers to start living up to their word and improving in that area of the game. After all, their best playoff run in the last 20 years began with a save in a shootout. If it all comes down to that, history is not on the Flyers side.