Flyers' Ineffective 4th Line Has Been a Silent Killer

While not at the absolute top of the list of their issues at the moment, the Philadelphia Flyers will, at some point, need to find a permanent solution for their dreadful fourth line, which has cost them dearly with their poor play multiple times over the last week.

After Thursday night's narrow, uninspiring 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet spoke about moments.

"It could be a big chance, anything. It's just, we're lacking the big moments. We got to find them somehow. We got to keep coming in every day to try and find them," he said.

Moments in a game when the team should rise above, come out on top, and show some killer instinct to make a big play, even when momentum is against them.

Whether or not the Flyers' frail mentality on the ice falls on Tocchet's shoulders has been the subject of fiery debate, but regardless, the team hasn't come through, and they're losing games as a result.

Take the fourth line as a microcosm of an entire roster failing to come through in those said moments.

In a 2-1 loss to Ottawa last week, newcomer forward Michael Bunting took a hooking penalty that put the Senators on the power play, leading to the game-winning goal, and Bunting played just 10:56 in that game, including a full two minutes on the power play.

On Tuesday, the story was similar.

Jack Studnicka took a tripping penalty against Seattle, and Bobby McMann went on to open the scoring on the power play. The Flyers mounted a furious two-goal comeback at the start of the second period, but they tailed off and eventually lost 3-2 in the shootout.

And then again on Thursday night, Noel Acciari and defenseman Simon Benoit couldn't stop Michael Rasmussen in front of the net, and a point-blank scramble in front of Joseph Woll ended in the game-winning goal for the Red Wings.

These were three games, in the span of one week, decided by one goal, with the fourth line at the scene of the crime each time.

For as poorly as the Flyers have played all year long, they very well could have their first three wins of the year, instead of being 0-2-1 in those games.

Adding five more points to their current total of three would have the Flyers tied with New Jersey and Toronto, one point outside the second wildcard spot with plenty of hockey left to play.

Instead, the Flyers are one of two remaining winless teams in the NHL, and the other, Los Angeles, has played four fewer games.

If the Flyers are going to be that bad, at least they have more opportunities to develop their young players, right?

Well, that hasn't happened either.

Matvei Michkov, for example, ranks ninth amongst all Flyers forwards with his 19.1 shifts per game, narrowly trailing Acciari's 19.2 and Denver Barkey's 20.2.

Even worse, rookie Porter Martone is just 11th, averaging 16.9 shifts per game, placing him above only Carl Grundstrom (AHL), Alex Bump (AHL), Michael Bunting, Garrett Wilson, and Jack Studnicka.

In terms of raw ice time, Michkov is averaging just 14:55 a game, seventh amongst Flyers forwards and nearly two full minutes behind the sixth-ranked Tippett, who averages 16:26.

Michkov and Martone (13:14) are closer to Noel Acciari (14:07) than they are to the Flyers' de facto top-six, and that's a major issue, regardless of wins and losses.

Now, without making the likes of Michkov and Martone the main characters of the show, the Flyers are winless, with the dreadful fourth line instead finding itself at the heart of these key "moments", including in a tied game in Detroit with under five minutes left in regulation.