After rattling off 4 straight victories coming out of the All-Star break, the Philadelphia Flyers’ schedule was going to get a whole lot more difficult with games against Toronto, New Jersey, the New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh sandwiched around a trap game in Chicago.
The Flyers had slumped into the All-Star break having lost 5 straight, then after winning 4 consecutive contests, they’ve dropped 4 of the last 5 and these recent ones hurt just a little more considering who the opponents were.
In Toronto, the Flyers showcased a strong 50-minute effort against a dangerously loaded Maple Leafs offense but in the blink of an eye, Auston Matthews scored a natural hat trick in less than 8 minutes. The Flyers tied things up and forced overtime before a bad line change allowed William Nylander to walk in with far too much time and space for the game-winner. it was a good comeback effort, they gathered a hard fought point, and the Flyers had captured 9 of the 10 points on deck with the Stadium Series game coming up.
The Flyers could have gathered so much more breathing room had they defeated the New Jersey Devils but they were slow out the gates, they lost momentum any time they clawed their way back in the game, and defensive lapses allowed New Jersey to capitalize on odd-man rushes. The Devils have since lost 3 of their last 4 games but with the Flyers not gaining any ground, they remain just 5 points back with 1 game in hand and all-important final meeting on the 13th of April with the season winding down.
The Flyers then bounced back after a few days off and defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, but parking the bus in the third period was an interesting choice. Nevertheless, Samuel Ersson made 21 saves for the win, Travis Konecny scored the game-winning goal, and Garnet Hathaway added the insurance marker late in the second, which allowed them to clog the neutral zone and dump and chase in the third period. The victory was essential because up next was a back-to-back set against the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers – who had won 9 straight games – and then a road tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins who had 4 games in hand on the Flyers.
In their game against the Rangers, the Flyers threw everything including the kitchen sink towards Igor Shesterkin but the Russian netminder added to his career totals against Philadelphia with a sensational performance in net as he stopped 39 of 40 shots. He has struggled a bit this season, a far cry from what he’s given the Rangers over the last few seasons, but after Saturday’s victory he is on a personal 5-game winning with a save percentage of .951. The Flyers played a strong game akin to the one against the Maple Leafs where they turned out a solid 50-minute effort with just a singular lapse in play for a short period of time.
The Rangers came out of the first intermission with gumption and outshot the Flyers 9-1 and out-attempted the Flyers 19-6 by the time Alexis Lafrenière scored the game’s first goal with a hard shot through the five-hole of Ersson. The Flyers rebounded very well and ended up tying the game in the early parts of the third period courtesy of Tyson Foerster. Unfortunately, the Rangers walked away with the nail-biting victory after a double deflection got past Ersson as Barclay Goodrow deflected a shot that hit Matt Rempe, who was parked right in front of the goaltender – the 6’7” winger would make it hard for just about anyone to see around him.
Morgan Frost had a one-timer bid for an open net in the final minutes of the game go wide and Sean Couturier somehow smacked the post on his net-front backhanded shovel shot with just 5 seconds left. Emotions were at a high, the Devils had gained ground with a 4-3 victory, and without Konecny in the lineup the goal scoring dried up. Still, despite the regulation defeat there was a lot to be optimistic about as they got ready to play their cross-state rivals.
Cal Petersen got the start on the back-end of the weekend set and after having won his previous 2 starts – spaced out from November – he threw up an absolute dud of a performance in a very costly game. Fortunately, the Devils had lost before the puck dropped in Sunday’s game but in no universe should the Flyers – or any team for that matter – lose a game where they scored 6 goals. It was a see-saw affair as Travis Sanheim opened the scoring, the Penguins then scored 2 goals to end the period on a high, before the Flyers tied things up less than a minute into the middle frame.
The Penguins scored two power play goals in a span of 2 minutes and 23 seconds before the Flyers responded with 2 goals of their own in a span of just 63 seconds to tie things up as they headed into the third period. Once again the Penguins scored 2 quick goals – this time in a span of 1:57 – before Cam York brought the Flyers back to within one just moments later. The Penguins then reclaimed their 2-goal lead five minutes later on a knuckler and although Foerster brought them back in to within one, that was all she wrote for this one as the Flyers dropped a disappointing 7-6 game with an even tougher test coming up on Tuesday against Tampa Bay.
As we enter a new slate of games, the Flyers have a 5-point edge over the Devils but New Jersey has a game in hand, they have a 4-point edge over the Washington Capitals but they hold 2 games in hand, they hold a 5-point lead over the New York Islanders but they have a game in hand, and they are still 7 points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins but they respectively have 5 games in hand on Philadelphia.
The month of March is going to be daunting as the Flyers play 15 games in 30 days but only 3 of them are divisional matchups – one each against the Rangers, Capitals, and the Carolina Hurricanes.
They’re going to be playing teams like San Jose, Montréal, and Chicago, but they also have to play the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Toronto Maple Leafs twice. The lack of divisional games takes away those pesky 4-point games, which could be a good thing considering their 8-8-2 record within the division, but having to play Tampa Bay, Boston, Florida, and Toronto 8 times in 25 days is rough – including a back-to-back set on the 23rd and 24th of March against Boston and Florida on home ice where they continue to struggle.
With Jamie Drysdale potentially re-injuring his shoulder and being out week-to-week, Rasmus Ristolainen on the mend for the foreseeable future, and the backup goalie situation looking murky after Sunday’s loss, the Flyers are in a pickle. They have the resiliency, attitude, and wherewithal to stick around games, beat vaunted teams, and hang with the best of them but the schedule-makers did them no favours with their month of March.
This past weekend was a prime opportunity to further stake their claim as playoff contenders but we got to give them credit for how they played because they were inches away from sending the Rangers game to overtime and had Petersen made a few more saves, they should have walked out of PPG Paints Arena with two points. Unfortunately, style points don’t count and with another back-to-back set coming up next weekend, it’s going to be imperative that they take down the Lightning on Tuesday – a team they’ve only beaten twice in their last 15 matchups – if Petersen is to return between the pipes for one of those games next weekend.
Still, through 59 games, the Flyers hold a playoff spot, which is something most people did not have on their bingo cards. Their defense has taken some hits over the last few weeks, they desperately need Konecny back in the lineup, and figuring out their power play woes is absolutely essential. The Flyers cannot go into these matchups with a power play that is 4 for it’s last 37.
