Disregard Previous Headline - Flyers Skip Denver

I haven't read anything yet so I don't know what the players and coaching staff had to say about last night's loss, but it basically doesn't matter. Last night's game was an absolute embarrassment. From start to finish. Jeff Carter's face during his interview between the first and second period said it all - he was plain old embarrassed. He couldn't even look the Alpine Sports commentator in the eye. He wouldn't even look at the camera. He looked like someone in one of those movies where they're keeping a video diary in a situation where they're pretty sure they're going to die - "We've used our last flare. The radio's running out of batteries. I'm not sure how much longer we have." There are a ton of things they're not doing in general - no support, no urgency, a lack of confidence in their play as they move up the ice, a lack of concentration. I mean, what more needs be said than after the first period the shots were 17-3? The Flyers looked so worried to make a mistake defensively that they couldn't even think about doing something offensively.

Probably the most glaring example of the Flyer playing horribly could be seen during 4 on 4. Every single one looked like a powerplay for the Avs. The Avs defense would get it in their own zone and make some passes to eachother or up ice and they'd carry it in and literally set it up. At even strength. If we managed to get the puck we just wanted to get it out of harms way so we'd chip it up the boards or flip it up the middle.The same could be said for 5 on 5. From Kimmo Timonen down to Andrew Alberts. We can't move the puck up as a unit. And the onus for that is as much on the forwards as the defensemen. Donovan McNabb can't hit his receivers if they're not open. So sometimes he chucks it of bounds. Sometimes meaning a few times a game, not every single shift.

I followed the game pretty closely last night and certain players stuck out:

Mike Richards is trying to do everything. Including turn the puck over high in the Flyers zone more than any other player. He should concentrate on the small things. Such as earning that extra foot before icing the puck when you're line is so tired that Danny Briere hardly makes it to the faceoff circle before the puck is dropped on the ensuing faceoff.

Braydon Coburn had an extremely bad game defensively and was nonexistent offensively. He and Sbisa were taking awful angles on the Avs forwards all night in the corners. Sbisa looks calm to be sure, maybe a bit too clam. On multiple occasions he got his pocket picked in the defensive zone on plays that should have developed into breakouts.

Joffrey Lupul played horribly. Some might attribute it to his new position but that would just be an excuse. When the Flyers had 30 seconds of power play in the first period, and they actually controlled the puck in the Avs zone, instead of setting it up he took a shot from a mile out that was a mile wide and when it cleared the zone he had effectively killed the entire penalty for the Avalanche. His turnover at the end of the second period needs no analysis - you just don't do that. You don't put yourself in a position to make that mistake.

John Stevens had a number of questionable calls from the bench. Such as putting the fourth line, including Riley Cote, out with less than a minute in the first. Guess what happened. Kimmo Timonen tried to force a pass to a forward who was no doubt open but out of position and he ends up having to haul down the Avs player who intercepts the pass. At the end of the second he had Eminger and Alberts out with less than a minute left. They didn't exactly stifle the 3 on 2 that developed after Lupul's turnover.

Basically no one played well last night. When the opposing announcers of an 0-3 team are saying things like "took it away ever so easily" and "you can't have a much better period than that" something is seriously wrong. The Flyers powerplay can't even set up unless it's a 5 on 3. Their penalty kill was abused, with the Avs passing into the box at their whim. Ryan Smyth looked like Wayne Gretzky. The Flyers need to figure something out soon. You can't spend the year relying on trick goals. If having NHL players clear the zone, lift a stick, or almost cycle can't be regarded as positives then there were none. That's something you'd laud an AHL team for if they were playing against an NHL club. Maybe we'll be doing so soon enough if the organization decides to send the Phantoms out to San Jose.