The Philadelphia Flyers completed their week with another loss, this time against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Saturday night at Heinz Field In Pittsburgh. It completes a lost week as the orange and black are now 2-6-1 in their last nine games. They now sit fifth in the Wild Card standings in the Eastern Conference. Let’s take a look inside the numbers.
0: The number of Flyers who have a plus/minus rating in the positive. Scott Laughton actually leads the Flyers with a +/- rating of 0..and he has only played in two games all season.
1.33: The Flyers average goals per game over the last nine. When you have given up 26 goals in your last 9 games, averaging just over a goal per game is not going to get the job done. The Flyers need to find a way to create more offense if they want a chance to climb back into Wild Card contention.
-30: Flyers goal differential. Good for fifth worst in the entire National Hockey League, only Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey and Vancouver are worse than the Flyers. The common theme with all those teams is that they are all on the outside of the playoff picture.
.856: Michal Neuvirth’s save percentage over the last five games. Neuvirth has allowed 18 goals over the last 125 shots he has faced. Yet as brutal as the save percentage is, Coach Dave Hakstol has continued to run Neuvirth out. It appears they are showcasing Neuvirth as the trade deadline looms on Tuesday.
84: The Flyers projected point total with 21 games remaining. The Flyers can no longer say they hold their playoff fate in their own hands as they will need a lot of help to get in. They sit five points behind the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot in the East and they have to jump the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers in addition to the Bruins. They have dug themselves quite a hole. Lets see if they have enough shovels to get out.
andatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
