Final Score: Flyers 6, Panthers 5 (SO) | (3-3-0) 

The Philadelphia Flyers are a men’s professional ice hockey team. Or at least that’s what they say they are on paper. Because in reality, the Philadelphia Flyers are a drug. And a highly addictive one at that. You know that they are bad for you. All of your friends are constantly trying to get you to quit and you’re constantly telling yourself you’re going to quit. But for some reason, you just keep going back for more. You have some highs, you have some lows, but in general you are just destroying yourself from the inside out. You know this team is going to end up killing you one day but for some reason, you just keep watching. Now I don’t mean to make light of drug addiction or anything here but it’s really the best way to describe being a Flyers fan outside of the tired “abusive relationship” metaphor.

Last night, despite the shootout win, was one of those moments where I just sat there and questioned myself on why I keep watching this team night in and night out. Because last night was the quintessential Hakstol Era Flyers game that just so happened to work out in the end for the team’s first win at home this season. The team started off slow as shit with the ice completely tilted in Florida’s direction for the first 10 or so minutes of the game. Then the Flyers finally started to turn it on in the 2nd period and it was guys like Giroux, Simmonds and Gostisbehere leading the way. Then the wheels started falling off because this team hates holding on to leads. Then a couple of bonehead decisions by the coach ultimately ends with Florida tying the game after the Flyers were up 5-2, the game eventually goes to a shootout. You know how every movie in Hollywood is basically a remake of an older movie because Hollywood has run out of ideas and just keeps doing all the same shit? Well that’s how the Flyers are. They do the same thing over and over and over again, and you don’t really even need to watch the games anymore because you know what’s going to happen. I hate to be so negative after a win so let’s start off with a few positives here on the highlights. After that though, it’s right back to the shit.

Robert Hagg Breakout Season

Robert Hagg has probably been the Flyers’ 2nd best defenseman early on this season. He’s been doing a little bit of everything out there. He’s scoring a couple of goals. He’s gaining a lot of confidence in his shot and clapping away from the point like this one that was eventually deflected in by Jordan Weal. And he’s also been using that big ass body to cause some ruckus out there on the ice. Seems like he’s been mixing it up quite a bit out there so far, and here he was trying to get Mike Hoffman to fight his own fight for once instead of making his psycho wife do it for him.

In every area on the ice, Robert Hagg is making things happen. That doesn’t mean he’s been perfect out there or anything, but he’s been a difference maker. And with Ivan Provorov looking… well… not great lately, having Hagg there to pick up the slack has been huge. I don’t know if he’s ready for top pair matchups yet but you can slide him in with any other defenseman on those other two D pairs and I think he’ll be able to make some things happen both offensively and defensively. Guys like Hagg and Laughton didn’t necessarily come into this season with a lot of expectations surrounding them. But both have been great surprises so far and noticeable out there on the ice for the right reasons.

The Core Four

When I think about the core of this team, I’m thinking about Claude Giroux, Jake Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and Shayne Gostisbehere. Obviously guys like Couturier, Provorov (when he’s not playing like he’s broken), Konecny and hopefully eventually Nolan Patrick all factor in there. But Giroux, Jake, Simmer and Ghost are the rocks of this team. And last night was a big one for all of them. First up we had Wayne Simmonds with another 2 goal game. And this one right here really should have been the dagger on this game.

An unbelievable stretch pass from Christian Folin of all people. Right up to Scott Laughton who handles the puck in the air, manages to stay onside, hesitate just a little to give Simmonds enough time to get himself into scoring position, deliver a perfect pass and then Simmonds with a silky smooth finish. From end-to-end, this goal was incredible. I mentioned how good Laughton has been before in this blog and he showed that again right here. And this goal right here is why the Flyers didn’t give up and trade Wayne Simmonds in the offseason. The Train still has plenty of track ahead of him.

Next up we had Ghost and Giroux on this goal which was so sexual that I think we need to start calling this combination The G Spot.

“Sauce It Up” – Lil Uzi Vert

I don’t think that Ghost has been underrated at any point throughout his career so far. I think that people have given him the respect he deserves for the offensive side of his game. But I think this is the year that he finally makes the jump to the Elite category. I think this is the year that you have to put him in the same sentence as guys like Karlsson and PK Subban. This is the type of play right here that you’ll see in a highlight package for when he wins the Norris Trophy. Dives to strip the puck away from McCann. Then pulls a nice little move to shake the shit out of Yandle coming into the zone. And then this backhand sauce to Giroux for the goal was shipped straight from Italy. It was a thing of beauty. And shoutout to the captain for being locked and loaded, and ready to get this one on net even though the pass was slightly in his feet. It wasn’t the only time Giroux received a filthy assist from a young stud defenseman last night. The other one came from Aaron Ekblad.

Lol. Get it?

And then finally there was Jake Voracek. Jake didn’t have a point during the actual game but he came up big in the shootout and did enough throughout the game to not piss anybody off.

The Core Four all contributing to last night’s win. That’s what you need when you have a head coach who is dumb as shit and constantly making decisions that puts your team in jeopardy.

Brian Elliott, Buddy. Quit Drinking Before The Games

There have been games so far this season that Brian Elliott has gotten shelled for 8 goals yet I didn’t think he was to blame for his terrible performance. But last night? Last night was a rough, rough game for Brian Elliott and he deserves every bit of criticism that comes his way today. First up there was the opening goal from Frank Vatrano from an awful angle, kind of similar to the Patrick Kane angle in 2010.

I know he got screened and Provorov needs to do a better job at cleaning up the front of the net there. But the Flyers had just got a ton of pressure on their powerplay, they were finally starting to gain some momentum to tilt the ice back to level again, and then Elliott gives up this goal. Again–not totally on him, but you still need to find a way to close up that gap. Then there was the 2nd Vatrano goal which was just… well… I don’t know, man. This was bad.

We’ve seen this play plenty of times before where a team will throw a dump-in bank pass off the corner for a player streaking down into the slot. I don’t know if this was intended to be one of those, though. I think this was just meant to be a standard dump-in where Brian Elliott had all the time in the world to make a play on this puck. Instead, he just watches it bounce right past him and let’s Vatrano dunk that shit all over his face. Watch that GIF again. Look at the dude in the orange shirt on his phone. That’s how you know nothing was going on here. Glass seats and my man is texting away. There was no harm in that play but Elliott decides to freeze up and all of a sudden both the puck and Vatrano are in the back of the net. It was obvious that Brian Elliott didn’t have it last night. And if Dave Hakstol wanted to yank Elliott after that goal, just 12 minutes into the 2nd period, that would have been perfectly acceptable. I think every Flyers fan in the world would have applauded that decision. But what did Dave Hakstol do? Well you’ll find out next.

Dave Hakstol Has Absolutely No Idea What He Is Doing And Is In Over His Head In The National Hockey League

This man. This man right here is a goddamn idiot. I cannot believe how brain dead this man is when he’s behind the bench of a professional hockey team. Like I said–it was clear that Elliott didn’t have it last night. And pulling him out for Pickard would have been the right decision if they had done it early-ish in the 2nd period. Let’s check in on what transpired instead though.

Well the Flyers get out to a 5-2 lead. Barkov cuts it to 5-3 before the end of the 2nd period. Still not the worst case scenario but a 3-goal lead heading into the 3rd sure would have been better than a 2-goal lead. But still. All the Flyers have to do is relax. They’re playing well offensively and they’re getting plenty of chances. Just stay calm, take the 3rd period one shift at a time and they should get out of there with a win. Then the Panthers score again and it’s 5-4. Again though, just relax and calm down. Maybe call a timeout to settle the boys down a little but no need to panic. But what does that dolt Dave Hakstol do?

He fucking panics and decides to change goalies with a 1-goal lead in the 3rd goddamn period. A 1-goal lead in the 3rd and he decides to put in a goalie who hasn’t seen a shot since pre-game warmups and has been getting ice cold on the bench for the past 45 minutes. This was a decision made purely based on fear. Dave Hakstol was afraid of being labeled as the guy who does absolutely nothing but standing there with a blank stare when the wheels are falling off. So he thought he could out-smart everybody by making the goalie change WITH A 1-GOAL LEAD IN THE 3RD PERIOD. And up next?

I mean I don’t think that Elliott would have made that save either. Sasha Barkov is a beautician and he’s pretty much automatic on a breakaway. But to throw a cold goalie out there to try to secure a 1-goal lead with Barkov coming down on a breakaway against him? That’s a bullshit move by Dave Hakstol to put Pickard in that situation in the first place. Granted, Pickard later picked up the win in the shootout and stopped everybody but Barkov there. But everybody in the world saw that goal coming. Everybody in the world besides Dave Hakstol, that is. But I’m sure that Ron Hextall will give a press conference today praising the coach for having the courage to make that decision and how it ultimately won the game for the team since Pickard looked so good in the shootout. It drives me insane. I can’t take it anymore.

The Other Guys

– I don’t hope that Ivan Provorov is hurt. But I do hope that the only reason why he looked so lost last night was because of this shot he took to the foot in the first period.

He just looks like a completely different player right now and he’s either playing injured or he’s lost all of his confidence. I don’t like either of those options but an injury I can at least understand. But I think it’s time to switch up the defensive pairings here. Ghostorov isn’t working out the way the Flyers had anticipated so far and I think both guys would be better off with their own pair right now. Maybe it’s something they can get back to in the playoffs but right now I think Provorov needs his own pairing to help get some of that confidence back, instead of having to play second fiddle to Ghost.

– Big night for Jordan Weal. He had a goal during regulation and a goal in the shootout. Great to see him starting to find a role here in the lineup and hopefully the more he plays, the more comfortable he gets out there so he can stay on the ice instead of in the press box once guys get healthy again.

– Great to see Scott Laughton get the scooter helmet last night after the win.

Guy has been working his bag off so far this season. I know it hasn’t been the easiest career so far for him in Philly but he’s really coming along right now. He deserves the recognition.

– A win is a win. Regardless of how frustrating of a win it was, it still counts for 2 points in the standings the same way a 7-0 win would have counted. So that’s really all that matters right now. There are still some very obvious flaws within this hockey team. But as long as they find ways to win, that works for now. It won’t get you a Stanley Cup anytime soon, but I didn’t think this team was ready for a Cup run this year anyway.

@BarstoolJordie