Last night we witnessed a few things. One, when this team hits back, digs deep, or faces adversity they are at their best. For all intents and purposes this game was not going well at the start. Down a quick goal much of the sentiment around social media was “here we go again”. But this team dug deep, and it dug hard. The biggest highlight of that attitude was with 6:47 left in the second period when Wayne Simmonds came to the aid of Michael Raffl and was forced to the locker room for his trouble, in turn being taken out of the game for 17 minutes. Do you want one of your top guys off the ice for that long? No, but no doubt he would do it again, and Hakstol would be glad to let him. While our bright future may still be a couple of seasons away, this attitude is team building at its best.
Shayne Gostisbehere had another Game winning goal in Overtime, tying the record for defenders in a season with 3. The best part? He has only played 15 games. Over that stretch he has 6 goals and 5 assists, as a rookie defender. That without question is lights out. Shayne was called up when Streit went down and freed up a touch of cap space to give him his shot. Now there is no question he will not be sent back down when that injury clears. “Ghost” has also helped resurge the number one PP unit since he has been up, and he and Giroux are a tandem to be reckoned with, especially with Simmonds playing clean up at the net.
What is important to keep in mind about this is that “Ghost” is our 3rd best defensive prospect behind Sanheim and Provorov, who are both doing well in their current assignments. This means the Flyers are perhaps one to two season away from having a very formidable blue-line. That coupled with G still being in his twenties when that happens makes the future seem very, very bright. While this season wins are just gravy (like it or not we are rebuilding and not expected to do a ton) starting next season we should start to see real contention for playoff spots and maybe even a deep run, though these things take time. So hold your breath Flyers Faithful, wins are coming, and coming soon.
