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‘Stop taking stupid penalties’ is part of the plan for Philly

Wayne Simmonds about to hit Zbynek Michalek

One thing to watch for during tonight’s Flyers game?

Penalties.

Actually, let’s put that into capital letters, just to get the point across.

PENALTIES.

“Stop taking stupid penalties,” Philadelphia forward Wayne Simmonds said, per NHL.com.

“It’s stuff we can control ourselves. It’s not like they’re roughs, coincidentals. They’re stick infractions like hooks, high sticks. We can be in control of our sticks. We have to be. You can’t be in the penalty box half the game and expect to win.”

The Flyers have been shorthanded an NHL-high 33 times this season. Along the way, they’ve surrendered seven power-play goals, including three on Saturday to the Red Wings.

The Detroit game caused new head coach Craig Berube to make a proclamation of sorts.

“We have to stop taking penalties,” Berube said. “It’s been an issue in this organization for too long. It’s got to get better.”

Worth noting: the Flyers’ opponent tonight, Vancouver, has enjoyed just seven power plays in its last four games. So if there’s a team to stop taking penalties against, it may be the Canucks.

Update:

Per CSN Philly, here’s Canucks tough guy, and former Flyer, Tom Sestito talking about Philly’s discipline issues:

“They’ve always had a problem there. I thought they had Reno [Zac Rinaldo] on a short leash, but I guess he is off the leash right now. I feel like that has always been a problem in Philly.

“I don’t know if it’s their reputation or not. But we had a problem when I was there because we were always going on the penalty kill. Which is tough for everybody. Your bottom guys aren’t getting any minutes because it’s all penalty kill and power play.

“You’re not going to win many games when you are always on the penalty kill, even if you have a great penalty kill. It wears guys out.”

Related: Flyers ‘will always do something crazy,’ says Canucks’ Alberts