Philly Sports News

Philly Sports News continuously updated

Flyers’ 3 Stars of the Week: Zegras stays on top, and a rookie steps up

by

The Flyers had a difficult week, not due to the caliber of their competition, but because of how the games ultimately played out. Things started well with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, thanks in part to another quality start from Dan Vladar, which put the Flyers on a five-game point streak. However, the positivity quickly disappeared as the team blew back-to-back games that felt firmly in their control.

Ironically, their first loss of the week came off one of the best starts they have had all season. Slow starts have plagued them, but this fast start burned out quickly. After going up 2-1 and heavily outshooting the Sabres, Buffalo took over the game, held on to a one-goal lead late, and added an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final. Former Flyer Alex Lyon picked up the win.

Against the Rangers, the Flyers had a strong middle frame, scoring four times and entering the third period with a 4-2 lead. The Rangers stormed back in the third, forcing overtime, where the Flyers’ power play severely let them down, before the game ended in another shootout loss. The Flyers have now lost three straight shootouts after starting the season 5-0 in the skills competition.

All in all, the Flyers finished the week with a 1-1-1 record. But who were the standouts?

3. Denver Barkey

Made NHL debut, 2 primary assists, a joy to watch

The Flyers gave us a welcome surprise this week when they announced that they had called up Denver Barkey. While being without Christian Dvorak was unfortunate, Barkey getting the opportunity speaks to just how well he’s played in his rookie season with the Phantoms. Even better was just how comfortable Barkey looked at the NHL level, not missing a beat and setting up two goals in just 23 seconds.

His first assist came on the power play, following a bit of a messy zone entry that Matvei Michkov saved with a poke check near the blue line. Barkey then retrieves the puck along the boards and finds Travis Sanheim sneaking in from the point for the goal.

Not long after, Barkey was able to get control of a rebound in the middle of the ice and make a nice backhand pass to Tippett just above the faceoff circle.

Barkey has shown himself to be both a smart player and an aggressive forechecker in both the OHL and now the AHL, and it’s great to see it seemingly translating at the NHL level. This isn’t really a forecheck in a traditional sense, rather jumping on a bounce, but his puck control and ability to break free is evident as he pulls the puck from right in front of Mika Zibanejad.

Importantly, his impact didn’t just start and end with those two quick assists. Barkey also drew a penalty on Artemi Panarin and helped set up Rasmus Ristolainen for two quality chances in the third period; one primary shot assist and one secondary.

The Flyers may have lost the game, but Denver Barkey showed that he can not only hang at this level, but be a real factor, especially in the Flyers’ cycle game. In the grand scheme of things, it is just one game, and we’re not going to jump to conclusions over small sample sizes. Still, it was an excellent start to Barkey’s NHL career.

2. Bobby Brink

1 goal, 2 assists, shifty

Bobby Brink had a solid week. He found his scoring touch, led the team in five-on-five points, and showed off his strength and shiftiness while skating on a new line with Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov. It was his new linemate, Michkov, who jumped on a mistake by Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler, with Brink benefiting out front.

Now, obviously this wasn’t the most difficult goal of Brink’s career, but it was good to see the two connect for a goal as the new line showed promise. Brink continued to play well in the Flyers’ loss to the Sabres, picking up both of his assists, including one that was the result of Brink out-working a big opponent in Tage Thompson to win the puck back. Pretty impressive work along the boards from the 5’8″ winger.

Brink was held off of the scoresheet against the Rangers, and while he and his line “lost” their minutes by both weighted and unweighted shot metrics, they were also the only line that wasn’t on the ice for one of the Rangers’ goals. Brink is well on pace to, and should, set a new career high in goals this season, with 9 through his first 34 games. His current career high was set last season, with 12 in 79 games. He has plenty of runway to soar past that figure.

1. Trevor Zegras

2 goals, 1 primary assist, continues to be the team’s most dangerous player

No surprise here: the top spot once again belongs to Trevor Zegras. The points might not pop as much as they did last week (6 points in 4 games) but it really says something when a point-per-game week feels like a step down from a player. Earning first star honors for the fourth time around here, Zegras continues to be the driving force behind the Flyers’ offense. Against Montreal, Zegras played in his 300th NHL game and scored his 14th of the season in a one-on-one situation.

His four-game goal streak was broken against Buffalo, but his point streak continued when he set up Cam York for a goal following a quick cycle between himself and Brink. He saw the ice a lot against the Sabres, with only Travis Sanheim playing more than Zegras. It’s well deserved, as Zegras has recaptured his offensive spark he had in his first two seasons with Anaheim, and seems to have even improved upon it.

Zegras extended his point streak to 7 games with an absolute rocket on the power play that beat Igor Shesterkin right off the draw.

A big positive with Zegras has been the variety of ways he can contribute offensively; he is not a one-trick pony. He can beat a goalie one-on-one, owns a heavy and accurate one-timer, and, of course, makes the slick passes that we have quickly grown accustomed to seeing from him. The Flyers’ offense runs through Zegras, and especially on the power play. His goal against the Rangers was his 12th power play point of the season, doubling the next-highest total on the team. The power play in general has been a huge letdown so far this season, but Zegras is doing his part, and is the main reason why the Flyers’ don’t currently have a bottom-five power play conversion rate.

Really, the only negative thing from Zegras this week was a continuation of his uncharacteristic performance in the shootout. He’s failed to score on back-to-back shootout attempts, and while that has brought his percentage down to what’s expected (66.7% on the season, 63% for his career), it’s still jarring to watch it happen one right after the other. The Flyers have really been leaning on both Zegras, and to a lesser degree, Sam Ersson’s, abilities in the shootout, and while it got them some wins early on, this recent stretch should serve as a reminder that it’s not an automatic thing.

Still, it was a positive week for Zegras, and with the offensive numbers really spread throughout the lineup in these three games, his stat line and overall impact was enough to land the top spot.

Source