Flyers Have a Bigger Issue Than Controversial Penalty Call in Loss to

Controversial penalty call or no controversial penalty call, the Philadelphia Flyers need to take care of themselves and their own issues, which plagued them for a second game in a row.

For starters, the Flyers were heavily out-chanced once again, and while they are playing against superior opponents in Carolina and Florida, that’s setting the bar pretty low for a team aspiring to get to that level soon.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers generated just 2.14 expected goals at 5-on-5 to the Hurricanes’ 3.24.

They did, however, almost come away with a win against the Hurricanes on Saturday night in a tough building, but Travis Sanheim, who scored the game-tying goal, was flagged for goalie interference on Bobby Brink’s overtime winner, wiping away a 4-3 win.

Instead, Seth Jarvis went down and stole a 4-3 win for the Hurricanes.

The problem is that the Flyers probably should have won before that, having held 1-0 and 2-1 leads thanks to the efforts of Brink and Owen Tippett.

Brink’s second period goal was also aided by Nikita Grebenkin, who earned his first NHL point on the play.

Through two games, Matvei Michkov just doesn’t look like the same player who threatened to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie a season ago, and that’s with two different line combinations.

Flyers Underwhelm in Loss to Panthers, But An Unlikely Hero Emerges
The Philadelphia Flyers suffered a rather uneventful 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in their season opener Thursday night, and it was a performance fans aren’t going to want to see often.

Michkov, 20, played just 13:27 against the Hurricanes on Saturday night, didn’t play in the 3-on-3 overtime period, and took a roughing penalty whilst standing up for Travis Konecny after the latter absorbed a massive hit from William Carrier.

Simply put, Michkov is the franchise player. He needs to get going (and probably will at some point), but…