The Philadelphia Flyers capped off their week with a stirring come from behind win Sunday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Brayden Schenn’s 22nd goal of the season topped the comeback that started when rookie Travis Konecney tied the game with 43 seconds remaining in the third period. It ended a rollercoaster week which, not surprisingly, is a snapshot of the Flyers season.
The Good:
The Flyers ended the week 2-2. They played their best game of the year Wednesday night against their hated in-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins. Steve Mason backstopped the Flyers to a convincing 4-0 shutout against the travel weary Penguins. The comeback win on Sunday night was nothing short of must win..and it was the rookies who carried them. Ivan Provorov had a goal and two assists and Konecney had the late game tying goal. The future is bright for the orange and black, we just have to get there.
The Bad:
The Flyers special teams are anything but special right now. The power play is mired in a brutal 2-17 stretch. While there have been some personnel changes (Jake Voracek to the second power play unit, Provorov up to the first), the results are still not there yet and the penalty kill is still struggling mightily. Opposing teams scored at a 33.3% rate this week going 3-9. The Flyers need to consider making some changes in the first penalty kill unit as Pierre Edouard Bellemare and Chris VandeVelde simply have not been getting the job done.
The Ugly:
The game against the New Jersey Devils was simply their worst game of the year. Coming off an emotional victory against their bitter rival the night before, this was a game the Flyers had to win and going against a team that had lost 10 straight games, it’s a game they should have won. There are no excuses for what happened. A 6-2 thrashing by the Devils may have completely killed the Flyers playoff chances. The effort was not there and it felt like they simply did not want the win bad enough.
Even with the win on Sunday night, the Flyers sit five points out with 11 games remaining. They still have to jump three teams to get in (Toronto, New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning) and the Flyers start a rough four game road trip starting on Tuesday in Winnipeg against the Jets. The Flyers struggles on the road are evidenced by their 12-19-4 away from Wells Fargo Center. If ever there was a time for the Flyers to turn their troubles on the road around, the time is now. If they don’t, the Flyers can start setting up tee times for April 10, the day after their season will end.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
