Carter Hart couldn't stand on his head Monday night and the Flyers felt the inevitable reality of that in a disastrous 6-1 loss to the Sabres.
The one positive for the Flyers is they don't have to stew over the result as they're right back at it Tuesday night against Buffalo.
Let's get into the essentials for the game:
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
- When: 7 p.m. ET with The Warm Up at 6 p.m. ET and Flyers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Wells Fargo Center
- Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• Over their 2-1-0 start, the Flyers have been outshot in all three games, with two of them by double-digit margins. In total, the Flyers have been outshot 104-69.
It's early, as we so often say, but for a possession-based team that wants to live in the offensive zone, those numbers above are a clear-cut sign the Flyers are not playing the way they want to play.
Hart's 62 saves on 67 shots and the club's 11 goals may have masked the issue in the Flyers' pair of wins over the Penguins.
NHL
"It's a very small sample size so far," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said postgame Monday about the shot totals. "I do believe that we all understand that we need to get our game to where it can be. This group has worked extremely hard in the past, I don't see why it wouldn't work extremely hard moving forward here — to find our rhythm, to find our game and to play the right way."
The Flyers have allowed the NHL's fifth-most shots per game at 34.7 while putting up the league's second-fewest shots per game at 23. Last season, they allowed the NHL's fewest shots per game at 28.7.
With no Sean Couturier for now and no Matt Niskanen this season, the numbers are worth monitoring.
• The Flyers have not lost consecutive home games since Nov. 13-23, 2019, when they lost three straight at home, all after regulation.
The last time they lost consecutive home games in regulation was March 31-April 6, 2019, at the very end of the 2018-19 season.
• Brian Elliott will see his first start of the 2020-21 season. He entered Monday's game in relief duty during the second period.
Elliott is 13-2-2 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in 18 career games against the Sabres. He has not beaten any other team more than he has beaten Buffalo.
Projected lineup
• Vigneault shuffled his forward lines and defensive pairs in the third period Monday night. The Flyers did not have a morning skate Tuesday and Vigneault's pregame media availability is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. ET.
Here's how the Flyers looked in the third period Monday:
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Kevin Hayes-Travis Konecny
James van Riemsdyk-Nolan Patrick-Joel Farabee
Oskar Lindblom-Morgan Frost-Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl-Scott Laughton-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Travis Sanheim
Erik Gustafsson-Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg-Justin Braun
Here's how the Flyers looked to start Monday's game:
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Kevin Hayes-Joel Farabee
James van Riemsdyk-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom-Morgan Frost-Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl-Scott Laughton-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim-Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg-Erik Gustafsson
Subscribe to and rate Flyers Talk
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | YouTube