WASHINGTON — If you scroll past Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier and Orr and look a bit deeper than Bure, Sakic, Beliveau and Hull, you’ll find Claude Giroux’s name sandwiched between those of Phil Esposito and Guy Lafleur on the list of the most efficient point producers in Stanley Cup playoff history.
The Hearst, Ont., native, who ranks 22nd, is one of 32 players to average more than a point per playoff game, but he — along with the rest of his Philadelphia Flyers teammates — was kept off the scoresheet in Game 1 of this year’s Round 1 series with the Washington Capitals.
It goes without saying that, as the captain of this Flyers team, Giroux is expected to lead in every way. As the team’s top scorer in five of the last six seasons, the emphasis is on him and linemates Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek to kick-start the offence.
“That first game is always the toughest one and then you kinda get in the rhythm,” Giroux said hours before Saturday’s Game 2.
“Most importantly we need to just enjoy the game,” Giroux added. “I don’t think we enjoyed Game 1 very much.”
Frustrations didn’t quite boil over for the Flyers in Thursday’s 2-0 loss, but Washington’s stingy defence flustered them by limiting the shots against to just eight in the final 40 minutes of play.
Perhaps more concerning for Philadelphia was that when they did generate some action in the Capitals’ zone, notching 11 shots in the opening period, execution proved elusive — especially on the power play, which went 0-4.
“Playoffs is a simple game,” said Flyers GM Ron Hextall. “It gets much simpler than the regular season. It’s a hard game; not much time and there’s not much space.
“We need to get pucks to the net. We need to do a better job of that.”
It’s a task that will be considerably harder without Flyers centre Sean Couturier, whose series was ended in the second period of Game 1 by a hit from Washington’s Alex Ovechkin.
It was Couturier who was tasked with shutting Ovechkin and linemates Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie down for the series. Now that responsibility falls mostly on Brayden Schenn’s shoulders.
Scott Laughton, 21, is likely to make his post-season debut to help share the defensive load and penalty-killing responsibilities usually undertaken by Couturier.
The Flyers managed to hold the Ovechkin line off the board on Thursday, but their ability to climb back into this series is going to hinge on forcing Washington’s top line to play more in their own zone.
Voracek, Giroux and Simmonds can put the Capitals on their heels.
The trio combined for 683 shots on net this season and recorded five of Philadelphia’s 19 shots in Game 1. The problem is only two of them represented quality scoring chances.
Simmonds expects better from his line.
“We’re all leaders, the three of us,” he said. “We play with fire in our hearts, and I think it’s up to us to go out there and get some offensive opportunities.”
Giroux is the catalyst. Considering his skill set, his vision and his ability to elevate his game when it matters most, all eyes should be on him for Game 2.
“There’s definitely no sense of panic from him, and because of that there’s none from any of us in this room,” said Schenn. “It’s only been one game and we haven’t seen the best of Giroux in this series. He’s going to get better with every game and we all know it.
“We’re going to rely on it.”
