The Numbers Don’t Lie: Shot Blocking Key to…
Tortorella likes to look at the NHL’s 82-game schedule in segments. The Flyers coach breaks the long season into 10- to 15-game chunks to analyze how things are going.
“That’s going to be frightening,” the bench boss said before the Flyers game in Boston about the opening block. After 12 games, the Flyers are 4-7-1, with two of those wins coming in the last week.
Yes, things could be better, a lot better. But while the shots on goal are low, chemistry has been inconsistent, and overall play needs to be elevated, one statistic may be the root of all that ails the Flyers: blocked shots. “I think when you see this team block shots, it’s playing to its identity.
It’s a team that’s being hard, it’s a team that is willing to do that. I think that has been very inconsistent as the beginning of the year has started here,” Tortorella said Saturday after the Flyers’ 3-0 loss to a
struggling Boston Bruins squad. The bench boss continued to answer the question, talking about the past few games and how they have been up and down in terms of how hard he thought his group played. And then Tortorella wrapped it up with an interesting take.
“Something has to happen as far as puck control and having the puck more in the offensive zone for us to get a full game in, for us to be a complete team,” he said. “So, I don’t know if shots blocked transforms into that; I think shots blocked transformed into our mindset as far as how hard you have to play.” Our mindset. Playing hard and – we’ll say it – playing gritty are hallmarks of the Flyers organization since the days of the Broad Street Bullies.
It’s also part of every Tortorella team. During his tenure with the New York Rangers, the team was known to be a shot-blocking machine; over his four full seasons, New York ranked fourth in the NHL (4,563).
