OK, fellas.. That was a lot of fun, more of that please (well the 2nd period anyway).
I am still a little frustrated and I may be just a grumpy grader here but... You guys had that in your bag and have just been sleeping on it?! That game could've gone south early like it did Monday, but thank god for Jake Allen. 1st star, no question. I truly believe he has emerged as one of the best backups in the league, and being a solid veteran being able to step in and carry Marky's water for a bit is extraordinarily important for this team. We now have two goalies with 3+ SOs since 13-14 (Marty/Cory).
One of best backups in the league, you're crazy, Tim! well your favorite stat dork has the numbers:
Of Goalies who have started 15-22 games (30-45% of games)
- 3rd in sv. Pct: .906
- 2nd in GSAE: 11.7*
- 4th in GAA: 2.55
This is the Gibson, Pickard, DeSmith, Knight tier of goalies. Ok, so I added an * to that GSAE number because it's a little goofy via Moneypuck and shows 5.9 GSAE last night. That seemss... off. But for my #agenda I'm rolling with it, and he did make several grade A stops, and he kept the puck out during multiple net front scrambles, with 2,3,4 shots/jam attempts (the likely culprit for that high number). We don't win last night without his stellar play and that was the type of situational goaltending that wins you games. Whether it's keeping you in one early until you find your legs, or slamming the door when you have a lead - that's all I give a shit about and it is so goddamn refreshing to not have to bitch and moan about goalies.
Some of the 1st period struggles could possibly be attributed to the new D pairs. There were some glaring gap issues and communication issues in the 1st, particularly Luke and Kovacevic. I don't have the numbers by period, but 11.7% XGF and 37% for that pair overall is not great. They settled in and we will likely see these pairs get more run, but something to keep an eye on. VERY curious to see how Kovacevic plays away from Siegenthaler, since we kinda sorta have an important decision to make with him and Nemec.
After a pretty rough first, I was concerned we were just going to roll over again, but Dillon decided to kill a ginger. He should probably lay low for a little bit, and Seeler owes Tippet a steak after feeding him that suicide pass. That seemed to jolt the team alive, the temperature raised and the team just realized, hey we're not that small soft team that people think we are. This is what Fitz brought some of these guys in for and that moment and as a reminder we ain't shining shoes no more. Same with MacDermid, he is an objectively awful hockey player but you can't argue that they stand a little taller with him in there. He certainly should not be a lineup regular, but against a hard, structured Torts-ish team like Philly, I don't mind it and to be honest, they folded once we showed a little bit of push back.
It was good to see Palat get one on the PP - tough day for those of us with a "Timo should be on PP1 over Palat" folks. Nice patience from Jack, and a fortuitous bounce, but a goal is a goal. The PP has been quietly cooking of late, converting at 29% over the past 10 games and 33% over the past 5 games. In fact, both sides of special teams have been very good of late. The PK was a little rough to start the month, but the past 5 games has been shutting shit down at a 92% clip. When you can rely on the PK to get stops, you can be a little more physical, you can be a little feistier - and the 2nd period had no shortage of that. There were multiple scrums, a parade of guys to the box on both sides - didn't matter, we locked it down and kept making them pay. Noted PP specialist Nate Bastian converted on a hard working net front scramble as well. Nice to see him bounce back from the dead, I owe you an apology Nate for calling you Glass Joe. Nate, oddly, owns the Flyers relative to his career: 5g, 5a against them in 20 games.
Luke is going to be so so special of a player. Those of you that think he should go down, or sucks, dont know what the fuck you're talking about. It took him two strides to get to full speed on his goal, and Jack had to turn on the jets just to be in position on that 2 on 1, which Luke hilariously looked him off. He's still ONLY 21 and his progression this year still remains remarkable. If you think otherwise, find a new sport to watch because you don't get this one.
Below you will find a deep dive into Luke's micro stats 5v5. And for those of you that don't like advanced stats, these aren't advanced stats. They are just counting stats per 60 minutes. It isolates all of the little things he does during a game and are actually important to see for defenseman since they don't show up all the time on the traditional score sheet. Blue is good. He is a little high-event on retrievals and zone exits, but so are most defenseman in today's game. Everything else is nearly chart breaking on both sides of the ball. He is VERY VERY GOOD.
I still have concerns about Mercer and his role, but he and Timo have developed some nice chemistry. Timo now has 6 points over his last 4 games, and 8 in his last 10. Mercer has 3 goals in his last 4 since being united with Timo. Timo is a puck dominant player and volume shooter, Mercer is good at finding soft spots and has good netfront hands, so the pairing makes sense. I don't like line designations, what matters is deployment and TOI, and these two could cook with a center upgrade (or maybe Haula somehow becomes that guy?). If they do move Mercer back to wing, he has to get better on the boards.
Speaking of Timo, I did some digging and minus the shortened 20-21 Covid season that started late he is very much a late season player. He has scored 31% of his career goals in the last month of the season (March/tiny bit of April). No other month does he have more than 18% of his goals. Not sure what that can be attributed to, but he put up 11, 9 and 17 the past three March/Aprils, 36% of his total goals. Last year, we all know he was dealing with a middle-body injury (that turned out to be two busted MCLs) and it seems like he was finally healthy and free of Ruff. His positive scoring regression is coming folks, and it's going to be glorious.
We're now 3-1 in the last 4, and hopefully have dug out of that January funk. Still think we could use some upgrades, and the urgency ebbs and flows. Before the game it was at a fever pitch, but subsided a bit afterwards. I'd still love a righty sniper for Jack, and a 3C center upgrade for Timo and Mercer. We're back over a .600 win pct, which is a high-90s pt pace, so the doomers can calm down. This is a good team.
You know who's not a good team? these fucking trash bags across the river. Cry about it, Steve.
LGD
