The Philadelphia Flyers ran into a hot goaltender on Sunday night, falling 4-1 to Philipp Grubauer and the Seattle Kraken in the first game of a Pacific Northwest road trip.

Sunday was the first of four games out west before returning to Philadelphia, and it was not quite the ideal start.

The Flyers had a solid first period, where, until the end, it felt like they dominated puck possession and spent most of the period in their offensive zone. There were two power-play opportunities in the first period for the Flyers. Philadelphia had three total chances on the man-advantage going against the 32nd-ranked Kraken penalty kill.

Read More: Flyers Can’t Solve Grubauer, Fall 4-1 vs. Kraken Sunday Night

The Bad

The power-play did generate some chances, including one cross-ice pass to Travis Konecny. Konecny was robbed on the shot by a sliding Grubauer. That was just the way things were going for the Flyers. However, they seemed more inclined to play from the perimeter. That made no sense considering they thrived getting bodies in front of the net and scoring from the slot vs. the Canucks in the last home game before the break.

In a game like this, the power play was destined to be a difference maker. In a way, it was, just not in the Flyers’ favor.

It was the first of four games out west, with the Flyers arriving in Seattle on Saturday. Again, it seemed like they put the pressure on in the first period. But after that, you could see the wheels falling off.

The Flyers got tired, and that led to mistakes that they typically would not make. Maybe the team was a bit jet-lagged after their travel to the West Coast the day prior. The first game of a road trip is typically the most difficult, given the time difference. Regardless, it’s no excuse. Especially not when it becomes significantly noticeable.

That led to Dan Vladar being tested. The Flyers’ netminder faced a handful of dangerous chances in the first, but was tested even more as the game went on. Seattle never really had a spike in shots, tallying 7, 7, then 6 shots on goal in periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively. What did happen was that the more tired the Flyers got, the better the opportunities were for the Kraken.

Vladar stopped 16 of the 18 shots he saw in the game, as two Kraken goals were empty-netters.

The Good

The Flyers’ fourth line has been cooking lately. Nikita Grebenkin, Rodrigo Abols, and Carl Grundstrom have the bottom line looking as good as it has all season. It has really brought balance to Philadelphia’s scoring.

Head coach Rick Tocchet may have found something with this line, as each player brings something valuable to the attack and has great chemistry on the ice together.

Abols is excellent at the dot and wins plenty of faceoffs for his line. Grebenkin has been back to that player Tocchet once described as “sticky” along the boards. His aggression continues to extend plays. Grundstrom has an NHL shot that has been quite dangerous. In fact, his goal on Sunday extended his scoring streak to six games.

In fact, Grundstrom has seven points in 10 games since rejoining the Flyers, six of which are goals.

Once again, it felt like some of the Flyers’ best chances, if not most of them, came from the fourth line. It’s fitting that they scored on Sunday.

We’ll wrap this up by talking about Denver Barkey.

The 20-year-old rookie fits into the NHL game. He is smart, always around the puck, and is aggressive. If it sounds repetitive, that’s because it is. GM Danny Briere said they leaned toward Barkey for the recall because of his consistency, and he is showing it. He plays the same game night in and night out.

Barkey came close to his first NHL goal after his breakaway was held up by Ryan Lindgren, and the team was awarded a power play, not a penalty shot. Nonetheless, it was still a great play by the rookie to draw the penalty. He will break through, sooner rather than later.

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