The Philadelphia Flyers were handed their second straight overtime loss on Saturday, falling 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes.
After an embarrassing 7-0 loss on opening night against the Penguins and a 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils, where the Flyers were lucky to escape with a point, they put forward their best effort of the season on Saturday.
The Flyers played a much better game against the Hurricanes. Was it a complete game? No. Was it a game that was deserving of a point? Probably not. But the Flyers did take a step in the right direction.
Saturday night's contest was the first of a very challenging 5-game stretch for the Flyers, where they will see the Hurricanes twice, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, and Boston Bruins. Those are all teams expected to be smack in the playoff hunt come time. It won't be the easiest task to get back on track.
Saturday's game was a step towards getting back on track; however, they still have a long way to go. Let's talk about some of the major takeaways from the game.
Read More: Flyers Suffer Second Consecutive OT Loss, Fall 3-2 to Defending Champs
Joseph Woll is the reason the Flyers have two points right now. Between his 41-save Flyers debut on Thursday and his 37-save game on Saturday, Woll is a massive, if not the whole, reason the Flyers even managed the loser point in their last two games.
After giving up a goal within the first 10 seconds of Saturday's game, the Flyers' netminder locked in and played lights out for the Flyers, putting them in a position where they could have won the game.
Making his second consecutive start, Woll was making the big-time stops, shutting down Grade-A chances, and controlling the game for his team.
He was doing all of that still while the Flyers were having trouble keeping the puck out of the defensive zone. The Flyers were giving up lanes right to the net. Once again, Woll had little help. A team like Carolina is lethal when shooting the puck. Woll kept their attack to a minimum on Saturday.
Through two starts with the Flyers, Woll has a .929 SV% and a 2.87 GAA. It's been quite the start to his Flyers tenure. Between him and Dan Vladar , the Flyers have a really solid tandem between the pipes.
Head coach Rick Tocchet said he wanted to give his original lines some runway this season. He did not want to break out the blender early. However, after the mighty offensive struggles in the first two games this season, he was forced to break out the blender.
Tocchet reunited the Konecny-Dvorak-Michkov line, one that had success during the preseason. In their first regular-season action as a trio, they looked like they could be something for the Flyers.
Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak combined assists on Matvei Michkov 's then go-ahead goal. It was the first time all season it looked like a Flyers forward line had real chemistry. They were moving the puck well, making reads off one another, and not making any major defensive lapses, at least as the game went on.
It's just a one-game sample size, so it's definitely too early to say that they should be together all season. However, it was the best performance of any Flyers line so far this season, and should be a safe bet to play together against Tampa Bay.
One issue that remains is connectivity. Throughout this season, the Flyers forwards and even defensemen have looked disconnected. While that can be true on both ends of the ice, the offensive disconnection is becoming a legitimate issue.
So far in this young season, the Flyers have struggled mightily to keep the puck. Sloppy play in the neutral zone has caused too many turnovers. The inability to exit the defensive zone has led to too many turnovers. Loose passes have led to too many floating pucks and turnovers.
The Flyers still seem disconnected. If it were game 1, maybe game 2, you could see the excuse. But at this point, connectivity still being an issue is a bit of a concerning sign. It's either the players are still not all on the same page, or this team is just downright sloppy, and it's going to be a long season of turnovers.
The one area I think needs to be cleaned up most from Saturday before Monday is the neutral zone play. Philly simply needs to get cleaner passing. They cannot keep turning the puck over in the neutral zone and extending possessions in the defensive zone. It's not sustainable, and it's a big reason the Flyers have given up a ton of shots.
Through 3 games, they've allowed 121 shots. That's an average of about 40 a game. A lot of that has to do with the fact that they're just giving up chances with all of their sloppy neutral zone play. That is compared to their 62, or roughly 21 shots a game, that they have taken so far. It's not a pretty comparison.
So, to be competitive, because they cannot just rely on goaltending, the Flyers either have to find a way to get connected and create more offense, or clean up the turnovers. Either way, it all comes back to getting connected.
After Saturday's loss, both Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny spoke on the power play.
"I don't think (the power play) is an issue, honestly. We had so many good looks tonight. One's going to go in. I don't think it's an issue," said Konecny.
Trevor Zegras echoed a similar message. "I thought the power play for the most part was pretty good tonight. We had a bunch of good looks. It's still a work in progress, but definitely when you get that four-on-three, you've got to put one in the net, and obviously they did that."
The Flyers star said there is no concern with the power play. However, that might not be the case. Philly had 4 power-play chances on Saturday. They somehow managed to have just two shots on goal.
A big part of that issue is that they cannot establish possession. It does not look like a functioning power play. They spent more time chasing pucks and defending shorthanded chances rather than setting up themselves.
There were a couple of good looks later in the game, but a lot of that could be chalked up to puck luck, or even the Hurricanes' own sloppy play. It was not manufactured by structure or by creating their own chances.
Overall, Saturday's game was a step in the right direction. However, the Flyers still have a long way to go this season.
Read More: Flyers Earn First Point of the Year But Fall 3-2 In Overtime vs. Devils
