Game Thread: Game 45 - Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins(1-21-16): 7:00pm EST

[4thstreet]

they have to score on pp to start 3rd

 

[Cobiemonster]

How Umberger is staying in the lineup and how the 4th line getting the time and matchups they are is beyond me. The mismanagement is just glaring in this one.

Bottom six is horrible, period - it doesn't help that they're going up against the top guys on the other team but regardless, the depth is not good enough

 

[flyersfan4706]

Bottom six is horrible, period - it doesn't help that they're going up against the top guys on the other team but regardless, the depth is not good enough

Exhibit A for never trading Couturier

 

[Cobiemonster]

Exhibit A for never trading Couturier

Couts contract is going to look like a bargain when it's all set and done

Once Travis Konecny makes this roster and they can draft and develop some more forwards, this team will be much better

 

[flyersfan4706]

Too little too late. No one to blame but ourselves

 

[4thstreet]

just running around all over the place-looked totally confused,and gave up way too many shots.

Bad line combos killed them

 

[FlyerFinFan]

They looked slow...enough said. Oh yeah umberger needs to sit.

 

[awaz]

How Umberger is staying in the lineup and how the 4th line getting the time and matchups they are is beyond me. The mismanagement is just glaring in this one.

I don't understand this either. He's providing nothing out there. He had two prime scoring chances last night and on both of them his shot barely even got to Fluery. I don't think he can shoot it over 20mph right now. Ghost and G pass harder than Umberger shoots, that's not good.

 

[lasgop8]

Our bottom 6 played way to much in this game early and we got down because of it. I saw way to much White on the ice last night and Mase giving up soft goals and rebounds galore didn't help our cause.

 

[lasgop8]

Exhibit A for never trading Couturier

We got dominated by all third liners in Toronto with Couturier in the lineup. Not saying I would trade him but we didn't get smoked against Pitt because #14 wasn't in the lineup.

 

[Maverick426h]

For one, I don't think we as a team even know how to play with a two goal lead early because we're almost never in that position. I do think Couturier could've helped control Crosby a bit and really benefited the penalty kill, plus the second line was no longer dominant without him.

It's nice to see the power play get rolling, but we gave those goals right back in the very next period. We really let them go north/south way too quickly. Not enough resistance in the neutral zone and clearing the puck from our defensive zone often took forever. We're better than that.

I know Giroux scored a goal on a rather weak wrist shot that just had eyes and had a primary assist, but he really should've stepped up more overall in this one. Not enough leading by example or battling truly hard at even strength.

I feel that Mason actually played fairly well altogether, we just hung him out to dry far too often, which is not at all like our boys when visiting Pittsburgh.

These are tough games not to get points out of right now when you consider that we were without question on the inside track to a playoff spot. We're still in decent position with teams like Montreal, Boston and Ottawa not doing so well. Just win the two games in hand.

 

[awaz]

Our bottom 6 played way to much in this game early and we got down because of it. I saw way to much White on the ice last night and Mase giving up soft goals and rebounds galore didn't help our cause.

I have a hard time blaming Mase last night. I actually thought he played really well. 41 saves. And the goals were a snipe from Crosby, 2 tap ins for Kessel, and Daley through a mass of humanity. He didn't have a chance on any of those.

Like everyone said through here, the Flyers depth is an issue. 4th line #1 and 4th line #2 play far too much and provide absolutely nothing.

I would like to see Laughton play a little more though. He seems right on the verge of making some noise offensively. Seems very confident with the puck.

 

[Maverick426h]

45 shots given up and a lot of those were high quality chances. That ties for the most they have had all season long. They have not been an offensive juggernaut this season at all. Far from it, in fact. I think we were lucky to only give up four though.

Laughton seems to show sneaky speed and skills. I'm not about to give up on him at age 21. I think he can get to where we need him in the next two to three seasons.

 

[lasgop8]

I have a hard time blaming Mase last night. I actually thought he played really well. 41 saves. And the goals were a snipe from Crosby, 2 tap ins for Kessel, and Daley through a mass of humanity. He didn't have a chance on any of those.

Like everyone said through here, the Flyers depth is an issue. 4th line #1 and 4th line #2 play far too much and provide absolutely nothing.

I would like to see Laughton play a little more though. He seems right on the verge of making some noise offensively. Seems very confident with the puck.

I am in no means blaming Mase but the "snipe " was a soft goal he was playing too deep in his net and the 1st goal was a softie he was again too deep in the net and I say a third of those 41 shots came after he let up a rebound. He did not lose us the game we just got outplayed but Mase didn't help.

 

[Maverick426h]

Well, I'd probably play slightly deep in my net too if I were constantly under siege by the other team...lol

 

[lasgop8]

Well, I'd probably play slightly deep in my net too if I were constantly under siege by the other team...lol

This is definitely true but did you notice that even when the puck wasn't in the net and hit off the post he was reaching for his water while play was going on. He just seemed off to me last night not that he was a reason why we lost we just stunk. The upside is that we played so poorly across the board and still only lost 4-3. Bring on the Islanders!!

 

[Cobiemonster]

I have a hard time blaming Mase last night. I actually thought he played really well. 41 saves. And the goals were a snipe from Crosby, 2 tap ins for Kessel, and Daley through a mass of humanity. He didn't have a chance on any of those.

Like everyone said through here, the Flyers depth is an issue. 4th line #1 and 4th line #2 play far too much and provide absolutely nothing.

I would like to see Laughton play a little more though. He seems right on the verge of making some noise offensively. Seems very confident with the puck.

It's also time for Ryan White to take a seat - between his hit the other night and some of the dumb penalties he's been taking lately, there's a reason why Montreal let him go because he did the same thing there - I know VV is a favorite of Hak because they go back to North Dakota but he's maxed out as a player - in a perfect world, the Flyers trade a handful of these bottom six players for as much as they can and let the younger guys play even if it's in a more limited role - this has to be one of the worst bottom sixes in the league - the Flyers were successful when they had Kimmo and Chris Pronger on defense but what really made them good was the amazing forward depth they had - they were 9-10 deep when they went to the Final and now they can barely fill two good lines - everyone looks for more offense but it's not that bad around the league when you compare those teams to the Flyers - and the thing is, the defense for the most part is playing above their heads and the goaltending is keeping them in most games

I won't blame Mase for last night in general and they do need him to carry the baton but I think they're going to have to at least give Neuvy a start or two per week - I don't think Mase can go 5-6-7 games in a row when you have Neuvy in your back pocket - to me, they play with a lot more energy when Neuvy is in net - I wish the Flyers had a goalie in the minors that would be NHL ready and could share the load with Neuvy because Mase would be a good trade chip even though I think the goalie market isn't that great - don't get me wrong, I like Mase a lot and I think he's given them some stability in net but sometimes they just don't play with enough jump when he's in net and it's not easy to always pinpoint why that is the case and how much of it has to do with the goaltending

 

[Retroram52]

Mason needs to watch a bunch of Hextall vids where Hextall is going-off like he used to do back-in-the-day. Might light a fire under his butt. I agree Cobiemonster on many of your points. Good stuff indeed.

 

[Maverick426h]

This is definitely true but did you notice that even when the puck wasn't in the net and hit off the post he was reaching for his water while play was going on. He just seemed off to me last night not that he was a reason why we lost we just stunk. The upside is that we played so poorly across the board and still only lost 4-3. Bring on the Islanders!!

That was a very strange play. The puck appeared to hit both posts (while staying out), but Crosby celebrated so emphatically that Mase pretty much gave in that he'd been scored on. But where was his head as the play went on?

I thought he did make some big saves and hold us in the game, but similar to us, the Pens haven't been scoring much up until the last few weeks. So, they are snakebit and also trail in games often. I just watched Vancouver blitz them 2-0 in another first period.

I guess we're not getting the Islanders quite yet. The game has been cancelled. Maybe we'll get the Bruins on my birthday. Tough to say, I am swimming in snow here in VA.

 

[FlyerFinFan]

I'd rather have Gagne in the lineup than umberger let him sit in the presser....earn a spot back.

The 4th line is ok they play hard but white does need to stay out of the box. Otherwise I have no issue with them.