The Flyers did nothing right against the Penguins.
The Philadelphia Flyers really could not have suffered a more embarrassing loss to start their season if they tried, dropping a 7-0 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their home opener on Wednesday night.
Quite literally, there were no redeeming qualities or memorable plays the Flyers could even take away from a game like that.
The Flyers generated just 0.85 expected goals at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, nine scoring chances, and three high-danger chances.
They'll play their second leg of a season-opening back-to-back on Thursday night, facing the New Jersey Devils in their home opener at the Prudential Center at 7 p.m. But the Devils, who are much faster and more skilled than the Penguins, will make it "even worse" if the Flyers play that way again, in the view of a despondent Rick Tocchet.
Defensive zone
Tocchet also remarked on Wednesday night that the Flyers' defensive zone play against the Penguins was the worst he's seen since returning to Philadelphia as the team's head coach.
That, obviously, includes the dreadful winter stretch last season when it looked like the Flyers were incapable of winning a game.
The Flyers looked even more incapable and hapless against the Penguins, regularly running around the defensive zone like headless chickens while Pittsburgh passed the puck around them in circles all night long.
Up high, the forwards rarely put the Penguins' defensemen under any kind of duress, and down low, the Flyers' defensemen struggled to retrieve loose pucks, clear the zone, and bully their men around the paint.
The Devils are not known as a strong, inside-driven team, so if the Flyers again fail to oppose their will in the dirty areas, they will start the season 0-2-0.
Offensive zone
At the other end of the ice, the Flyers were far too predictable.
Porter Martone played what was easily the worst game of his young career, telegraphing shot attempts and seemingly one to two steps behind the play at all times.
That's not all on him, though, as many of his teammates failed to pick up the slack and drag him into the fight.
Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett were non-factors, while Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov, and Tyson Foerster made things happen at times but were generally off-kilter and inconsistent throughout.
By the end of the night, Tocchet had the Flyers' lines in a blender, making it tough to predict where they go from here.
What is clear is that, in the offensive zone, the Flyers as a whole were predictable, indecisive, and incohesive. Michkov and Konecny flashed some old chemistry in the preseason, and Alex Bump was the most effective offensive player on Wednesday night.
The Flyers need to lean into those three, plus Foerster, to turn things around offensively.
Power play
The Flyers must lean into Christian Dvorak's skills to maximize the power play. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images)The Flyers' power play is still wretched, though they generated some good looks at times. Most notably, Michkov found Foerster at the back post, but the Penguins did well to tie up Foerster just enough to haggle him off his angle and force the puck to bounce past Arturs Silovs in the blue paint.
They also allowed a shorthanded goal, yes, though that was more of a product of Jamie Drysdale cheating down low for offense in a game they were trailing 5-0 at the time. That wouldn't happen under normal circumstances.
The second power play unit, comprised of Konecny, Tippett, Cam York, Noah Cates, and Bump, was unwatchable.
Cates was once double-teamed along the wall, and had he made a decision with the puck, he could have freed his teammates to generate a quick 4-on-2 scoring chance. Instead, he lost the puck outright, and the Penguins cleared the zone.
York still offers zero in the way of individual puck-carrying and shooting, and Konecny and Tippett are rush-dominant players who look lost trying to cycle the puck around and generate scoring chances.
Their opportunities are limited to one-timers and telegraphed wind-ups from low-percentage distances.
Christian Dvorak should replace someone, perhaps Foerster or Martone, on the first power play unit to win faceoffs and provide a presence down low, and Martone and David Jiricek, who was scratched in Game 1, can orchestrate on PP2.
As currently constructed, once that second unit hops over the boards, the power play is over.
