Flyers Soundly Defeated by Penguins 4-1

For the first time this season, the Philadelphia Flyers fell to their in-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins, this one by a score of 4-1. Falling to 20-14-6, the Orange and Black are still in a favorable spot, especially after adding Jamie Drysdale to their defense in the middle of the game. That aside, what were some takeaways from the defeat?

Philadelphia Didn’t Show Enough Push

After the Flyers trailed early in this one, they didn’t show the pushback to inspire that they could make a comeback. They’ve shown persistence in the past, but this was not one of those nights. They were outplayed by Pittsburgh from start to finish — this was one of their worst performances of the season.

Their 37 shots might suggest that the Flyers were good offensively in this game, but it really wasn’t their night. Their high-quality shots were lacking overall and the Penguins had a very strong performance. They failed to show up for this game, and it puts them in a spot where a regroup is necessary. They cannot afford to be dominated like they were in this one anytime soon.

One good thing is that the Flyers aren’t always going to be at their best, so they’re going to have some shaky games once in a while. They haven’t shown too much of their top hockey recently, but they’ve always been able to stay in games and be competitive — that happening is more common than what occurred in this game.

Power Play Stays Hot

In some good news, the Flyers made it back-to-back games with a tally on the power play, moving up from a single-digit scoring rate from their contest against the Calgary Flames into more respectable territory. Forward Owen Tippett hadn’t scored a single goal in his previous five matches but notched one here to get both him and the man advantage going again.

Tippett has struggled to get going a bit offensively recently, and that’s an issue when he has the most shots on the team and isn’t a particularly great player in the defensive zone, so him not being able to score is a massive issue if they want to be as competitive as possible. Though the goal ultimately didn’t end up mattering, it was good to see him finally get on the board.

This game was a letdown, but if the Flyers continue to score on the power play, they will win games because of it. They’ve found themselves in several one-goal contests, so just being around average on the man advantage could provide an incredible boost.

It should…