One month into the season, some truths around this year's team are settling in.
-FTW. Voracek is playing amazing. Clearly the best performer on the team right now. I attended the LA Kings game last week, and he was easily the best player on the ice for either team IMO. With 18 points in 12 games, only Crosby has more points. He's still not much of a shooter in my opinion, but he is a top-notch puck carrier and his 10-pound weight loss in the offseason has worked out really well, noticeably increasing his quickness and stamina.
-FAIL. The team has no Hartnell replacement on the top line or top PP-unit. Raffl has done pretty well playing with Voracek and Giroux, tying Simmonds for the team lead in goals largely with his skating and by popping up in good spots on both ends of the ice. Still, he's just a complementary player, and he doesn't play on the PP either. And now he's out for 6 weeks as ANOTHER Flyers gets injured after being struck with a shot in the foot. The man the Flyers received for Hartnell, R.J. Umberger, is appearing in games according to the box scores, but I cannot verify that fact after watching the games.
-FTW. PPs against are way down. The Flyers are currently in 6th in the league in times shorthanded. They were 29th last year, and dead last the two years before that.
-FAIL. The PP is down, and their failure to convert chances at key junctures in games has cost them points in the standings. Part of that is Hartnell down, and part of the is Streit replacing Timonen. Streit is a good PP player, but his style is much different. Streit loves to shoot (and has a much better shot that Timonen), whereas Timonen was a manager back there. Streit's style may lead to a little more streakiness in results if the bounces don't go your way when you fire it in there. Additionally, when Lecavalier returned from injury he was immediately put into the Hartnell high slot spot, but by the end of the game Schenn was reinserted there. I guess Schenn will get an extended opportunity on the ice with top talent there, even if he lost the chance to play LW with Giroux and Voracek at even strength. Let's see what you can do, young man.
-FTW. Michael Del Zotto's role is increasing, often leading the team in ice time. He holds onto the puck longer than any other defensemen on the roster, which was a trait this defensive group was generally lacking.
-FAIL. Ghost was gone in a flash. I don't blame the team, but I was hoping to see a few flashes from Ghost before he was sent back down. I did like what I saw from Colaiacovo in his first game, reading the game well and managing the puck. It will be interesting to see how a defense corps prominently featuring multiple guys whose NHL career was on the fringes (Colaiacovo, Del Zotto, Schultz) does over the next few weeks while MacDonald and Coburn recover.
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