COLUMBUS, Ohio ― The Flyers finish a five-game road trip in Columbus on Saturday night.
The last time these two teams met, the Flyers battled back from a 3-0 hole before losing in overtime on a two-on-none goal by Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson.
It’s been a trend this season. The Flyers have gone past regulation six times and have lost each one, with five ending in the extra session and one in a shootout. Last season, they played 28 games past regulation, winning 16.
What are the issues? “All the above,” coach Rick Tocchet said on Friday.
The Flyers spent a long stretch of practice Friday at Nationwide Arena working on three-on-three action after watching video. Whether it translates to the game itself is anyone’s guess because each game, scenario, and opponent is different.
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But Tocchet follows three tenets: Can’t lose pucks in certain areas; you can’t throw pucks away; and you have to have better line changes. Of the five overtime goals allowed, four came either directly off an odd-man rush or soon after. The Edmonton Oilers took advantage of a bad change on Wednesday for Evan Bouchard’s winning goal.
“We basically gave the team stats. I think we’ve had five chances. The other team’s had 12,” Tocchet said. “… For us, it’s not a one-man show. We need three guys participating. It seems like we’re not getting that three-man attack or three-man defending. And quite frankly, to be honest, we throw the puck away.
“You’ve got to have a lot of — it’s not courage, but just the hockey IQ of holding onto a puck. You can’t throw pucks away because that’s probably the number one culprit for us. And we’re trying to find guys. I’ll be honest, all jobs are open.”
Fifteen players have seen the ice in overtime, with Travis Sanheim leading at 9 minutes, 25 seconds, Oliver Bonk is last with 23 seconds, and Trevor Zegras leads the forwards at 6:16, and Matvei Michkov is third (4:41).
Rookie Porter Martone, who scored an overtime power-play goal against the Boston Bruins in a pivotal game as the Flyers surged to the postseason, has not seen the ice in extra time but is someone Tocchet said could look to moving forward.
So what constitutes a successful player in overtime?
Part of the deployment is based on timing, like needing a center to win the opening draw, as it typically lays the foundation for the rest of overtime, or someone who, because of the fast-paced action, will skate a hard 30 and then change.
“Guys obviously good with the puck who can defend the puck,” Tocchet s. “It’s really, if you look, I think 60% of the overtime goals are from actually defending the puck into a transition. It’s a big number. So you’re looking for people that just can’t go out there and try to just think about scoring all the time because you have to defend. After that, yes, do your thing.”
Watching the three-on-three practice, it looked like the Flyers were focusing on maintaining a triangle formation.
One of the most basic offensive-zone strategies in hockey is utilizing a triangle, where it is not only about spreading out and puck support but also having a player higher in the zone to defend if things head the other way. The bench boss thought his group has been playing flat — or all three across — which is what happened on the Johnson overtime winner at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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“A lot of times in three-on-three, right, teams will fold into kind of a tight triangle, and it’s hard to spread them out,” said forward Travis Konecny. “So, picking your spots on when to try something and when to attack, and then also not giving up the puck.”
The bare minimum message on Friday, whether using the triangle or not, was about support, with or without the puck, and awareness.
“I think at times when we’re in our structure defending, we’re defending pretty good and creating turnovers. It’s the plays [where] we’re trying to force and make, and giving up possession of the puck when we have it,” Sanheim said.
“And in three-on-three, it’s a possession game. You need to wait for your chances and wait for the other team to make a mistake on coverage. Just being more patient, understanding that we don’t need to force it, and let the game kind of come to us.”
Breakaways
Joseph Woll will start in goal for the Flyers in the first game of the back-to-back on Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP). Woll is 2-1-1 in four games against the Blue Jackets with a 2.44 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. Dan Vladař is, therefore, expected to be in net against the Oilers on Sunday at home (7:30 p.m., NBCSP). Vladař made 21 saves on 23 shots in the overtime loss on Wednesday. … Columbus head coach Rick Bowness will miss his second straight game due to an undisclosed health issue. Don Granato will serve as the bench boss in his place.