Three lessons from the Flyers’ 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens

Chaotic.

It’s a phrase the Flyers have used a lot this season, and it was uttered again by forward Scott Laughton after Sunday’s loss.

Separated. Not connected. Incoherent.

Even though the team was largely the same as last season, the Flyers struggled to find consistency. Asked if he was surprised by that, coach John Tortorella replied: “Yeah, a little bit.”

Here are three things the Flyers said after Sunday’s conference call Lost 4-3 to the Montreal Canadienswhich dropped their record to 2-6-1 on the season.

» READ MORE: The players have little time to draw conclusions after ending a series of six defeats in a row

“We just don’t work as a group.”

One thing the Flyers did right in their game Saturday afternoon 7-5 win over Minnesota Wild there were breakouts. They went well outside their zone and the defense moved the puck to one of the wingers, who then either carried the puck out of the zone or shot it to the center. They looked like a cohesive unit that was in sync.

Just over 24 hours later, some of the problems that had plagued them during their six-game losing streak resurfaced.

“We just don’t work as a group,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “We were so successful last year because we had five-person units on each line, one after the other. We had an identity, we worked hard. Other teams knew about it. Maybe that’s partly because teams are aware of the success we had last year.”

If the breakout doesn’t work and the puck isn’t cleared, it creates opportunities for the opponent. Then the opponent has more zone time and more chances to score a goal. And if the Flyers don’t operate as a five-man unit, it leaves guys open.

It’s a vicious circle.

This vicious circle allowed Montreal’s Nick Suzuki to stand alone in front of Flyers goaltender Alexei Kolosov. who stopped 20 of 24 shots in his NHL debutand bury the puck to put the hosts in a 1-0 hole. Five guys in orange lost the Suzuki. Five guys were watching the puck.

This allowed the barely touched Brendan Gallagher to get through the goal without any inhibitions and score with a shot from his foot, making it 2-1. It also allowed Gallagher on the right side to pass the puck – almost in slow motion, as he broke his stick on the pass – to an even more open Jake Evans at the far post on a one-timer. The latter in particular featured blown curtains all over the ice.

“I think you could see last year that we had that flow from our own zone,” forward Garnet Hathaway said. “I think it was boys playing roles and identities and understanding how it worked together, right? I think the disconnect happens when you try to create something immediately.

“You want something to work right away, when I think in the last game it was a process. We built our game. We quickly locked ourselves into Zone D. Everyone was connected, and then you walked through the zone and that was our identity. “We’re great in rushing, but I think we tired teams out with offensive possession (last year) compared to probably this year where it’s probably the opposite and I would say it’s a disconnect.”

“We just don’t support the puck.”

Puck support happens all over the ice. Defensively, the Flyers struggle because, as Laughton said, the forwards are too high on the boards, waiting to hit, and the defensemen don’t have a chance to make plays. However, puck support is most useful when the team is on offense.

The guy breaks down the wall and his teammate follows him to support him if he loses it. That was missing more than once on Sunday against Matvei Michkov, when the winger was carrying the puck on the right side of the boards, was blocked, and there was no one in the orange and black jersey nearby to pick up the loose puck.

Puck support is also about creating options and creating time and space to get scoring opportunities.

The Flyers’ first goal of the night was a perfect example of why good things happen with the help of the puck. Sanheim – one of the few bright spots in the game – moved the puck into the left faceoff circle before being stopped. Center Ryan Poehling was losing the play – providing support to the puck – and collected the loose puck, then sent it back to Sanheim for a goal from the point.

For Sanheim’s second goal, there was support again, only this time a Flyers defenseman was holding the puck. Morgan Frost provided him with support before slotting a pass into the far post. Frost’s path to the net allowed Sanheim to get to the middle of the ice. And after Travis Konecny’s hit, which brought the game to one goal, he crossed to Owen Tippett, who provided support before he received the puck, moved it through the net and passed it centrally to Konecny.

“I’m sure some guys are a little frustrated and gripping their sticks. But it is what it is, it looks chaotic. …We need to recover a bit. What word am I looking for? We just need some fluidity in our game, good pace and puck support,” Tortorella said. “We just don’t support the puck offensively and we have some issues when it comes to defensive support.”

“We don’t have fluidity in the offensive”

This quote from Tortorella is directly related to the first two reasons. However, the Flyers had trouble putting pucks in the net. In that game, they fired 26 shots — nine in the first quarter, seven in the second and 10 in the third — at Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau, the son of former Flyers captain Keith Primeau. They also blocked 23 shots and missed the net 18 times.

This is a slight increase compared to Saturday afternoon. Against the Wild Flyers, they had just six shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, three of which found the net. They finished 23rd.

Sunday marked the sixth consecutive game in which the Flyers were held to 30 shots, which includes a season-low 18 shots in Tuesday’s loss to the Washington Capitals. And that’s after scoring at least 30 goals in the first three games of the year.

Part of the problem is that the Flyers’ forecheck struggled. Sunday’s game started off well, with a starting line of Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster and Tippett putting pressure on the Canadiens. But this was rare.

“We are at a standstill,” Laughton said. “We cannot proceed with pre-inspection. They would leave the set and come back the other way. We have to combine our F1 and F2 in forecheck, create battles, create turnovers and that’s how we play.

“Go back to what made us successful last year and in the third period and everything will be simple,” Laughton added. “Get in forecheck, win battles, score big goals, put pucks in the net and then we’ll recover.”