Struggling Flyers Look To Get a Win Against the Vancouver Canucks

The Philadelphia Flyers may have fired Head Coach Peter Laviolette, but the Flyers’ struggles continue to persist with new Head Coach Craig Berube.

The problem here; the Flyers can’t seem to keep themselves out of the penalty box.

The Flyers are currently sitting on 116 minutes in penalties amongst the team. The worst offender is defenseman Andrej Meszaros with 18, closely followed by left wing Jay Rosehill with 16. On Saturday when the Flyers took on the Detroit Red Wings, 14 minutes in penalties were assessed by the Flyers. Three of the Seven Flyers penalties resulted in 3 of the Red Wings 5 goals.

One could argue that if the Flyers could have kept their guys out of the penalty box, they could have won that game.  Unfortunately, that is a truth that will never know for certain.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, the Canucks outmatch them in almost every category when you take a look at the numbers.

The Canucks average 2.83 goals per game, while the Flyers average about 1.33 goals; however, the Flyers only average about 2.83 goals allowed per game, whereas the Canucks average about 3.33

The Flyers average almost double the penalty minutes per game as the Canucks. As you have seen from their game against the Red Wings, the penalty kill is not exactly their strong suit.

The Canucks have a 90.5% on the penalty kill, so even if the Flyers were to get a man advantage, there is no guarantee that they will be able to capitalize.

“It’s been an issue in this organization for too long. The dumb penalties have to be eliminated altogether because they are unacceptable.” Coach Berube told ESPN.com.

Between the pipes, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo is 2-3-0 with a Goals Allowed Average of 2.99 and a Save Percentage of .898. The Flyers announced earlier this afternoon that they intend to start goaltender Steve Mason tonight between the pipes. This should come as no surprise since goaltender Ray Emery allowed four goals on Saturday against the Red Wings. Mason is 1-3-0  in his 4 appearances with the team. He has a GAA of 2.02 and a Save Percentage of .935.

Both teams will be looking for a win this evening as they are both coming off of two game losing streaks. Only one of them can be victorious when the final buzzer sounds, the question is…which one really wants it more?

Time: 7:00 p.m. EST

Network: SNET-P, CSN-PH