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Going into Tuesday’s night contest
against the Chicago Blackhawks, the mindset of the Philadelphia Flyers must
have been along the lines of “keep it close, and try to pull it out in the
end.” The game plan was made more difficult before the puck even had a chance
to drop, as Braydon Coburn (injured since game 1 against the Bruins) was
scratched after warm-ups. The Flyers were hoping the defense, which has been
shaky at best, would get some serious help with his return; however, this did
not happen, so the defense remained awful. The poor performance from the
defense resulted in three 1st period goals by the Blackhawks from
Brandon Saad (1), Patrick Kane (2), and Bryan Bickell. This gave the Flyers an
uphill battle they were just not ready to compete in. Yes, the defense made it
difficult for the Flyers; but the offense did not do anything to help their
cause as goaltender Antti Raanta made 32 saves and shut out the boys in orange.
In the 3rd period, Patrick Kane (3) added one more to his season
total giving the Blackhawks a 4-0 lead, which would end up being the final
score.
It was
clear that the game was over for the Flyers after 20 minutes of play. The
defense (or lack thereof) gave the offense no drive to even try and get this
game knotted up at 3 goals apiece. Goaltender Steve Mason has been under a lot
of scrutiny for his play so far this season but I personally give 0% of the
blame to him. The Blackhawks put up 43 shots on net, which a lot of shots! The
fact that only 4 of them went in is pretty impressive. I am fully aware that
there is a lot of season left; but if Philadelphia does not make some serious
improvements in their defensive play, this is going to be a very long season.
The one
positive fans can takeaway from the pathetic display from their Flyers is they
had no reason to stay up past 11 P.M. to watch the entire game. For
Philadelphia, the game was over by 9 P.M.
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