A Structural Problem

The Flyers season is currently in a valley after a tough weekend.  Two troubling losses to division opponents, marked by suspect defense and goaltending.

The instant takeaway for most fans is the gulf in goaltending between the Rangers and Flyers.  Though I never thought we'd get a goalie as good as Lundqvuist, Bryzgalov was brought in to largely eliminate a large disparity in goaltending quality.  Suffice to say, that hasn't worked out.

Goaltending is only part of the story though.  Last year, the Flyers were the only team not to earn a single shutout.  This year, they are 29th with one shutout, which is now a distant memory from the second game of the season.  Despite a new high priced goalie and a roster with a ton of changes, the same problems remain.  You can look at the Flyers lineup and say they need a physical defensemen, and you'd probably be right.  They can make themselves marginally better by acquiring one in a trade, but there are underlying issues here.

Laviolette has his team playing a style where the wingers usually stay pretty high in the defensive zone.  You rarely see all 5 Flyers collapse to protect their own net as many NHL teams do.  Additionally, the Flyers often try to start the rush quickly and in their own end.  Many NHL teams put much more priority on simply clearing the defensive zone, and worrying about offense after that.  Instead, the Flyers release quickly and often try to beat an opposing defender or two in their own end. 

Last year, this structural problem often manifested itself as blue line turnovers, as you often heard frustrations about the Flyers inability to clear the puck.  That hasn't specifically been as big an issue this year, but the underlying causes are still there and manifesting itself in different ways.  In many games this year in which the Flyers bleed goals, their separation between the forwards and defensemen in transition is way too big, leading to a lack of puck support.

The Flyers aren't going to solve their longstanding defensive shortcomings with a simple trade, and Bryzgalov isn't going to flip the switch and look like a different goalie.  If the Flyers are going to make a run this season and stop bleeding goals, they need to buckle down as a unit.  That means tighter spacing between players, deeper defensive collapsing, and a simplified low-risk transition game.  This is on both the coaches and the players to fix.