It’s the time of year where every game is crucial. The push for the playoffs is on and for the Flyers especially, they need every point they can get. Coming into tonight’s game versus the Montreal Canadiens, the Flyers sit six points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It’s a tough road ahead but it’s definitely still a possibility.
When making a playoff push, you need contributions from everybody, not just your leaders. Sure, you get points from guys like Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier. That’s expected of them. For a guy like Scott Laughton, the expectations are a little lower. He chips in a goal here and there but it’s rare you see him find the back of the net two or three games in a row. Lately, though, Laughton has stepped up his game offensively and has started to find the back of the net more frequently.
On the season, the Flyers center has tallied a total of 28 points, twelve of which are goals. Not to bad for a 3rd line Center. He’s already surpassed his career high in both points and goals and the season is still a little less than a month from being over. What’s really been impressive though is what he’s done of late. Over the past ten games, Laughton has tallied six points (four goals and two assists), with all four goals coming in a five-game span. It’s safe to say that things have been going well over the past few weeks for the 24-year-old center.
“It feels nice to get rewarded. The way I’ve been playing with my linemates and just trying to provide energy, the goals are kind of an extra bonus”, said Laughton following practice last week.
Not only has Laughton been finding the back of the net, he’s been a big key factor on the PK of late. Over the past ten games, the Flyers have been down a man a total of 28 times. In that span, the Flyers have allowed only three power-play goals killing off 25 of the 28 penalties. That’s pretty impressive. After being ranked at the bottom of the league on the penalty kill earlier in the season, they now sit at 25th in the NHL. Not a huge improvement statistically, but the PK has been a lot better over the last few months. Give a lot of credit to Scott Laughton along with the likes of Michael Raffl and Ivan Provorov for the improved PK.
At this point in the season, teams tend to check the standings a fair amount, looking to see just how far back they are of a playoff spot and what teams they need to jump. In Laughton’s case, he knows that everyone is keeping an eye on the standings but at the same time knows the Flyers need to take care of their own business.
“You definitely look at other teams and how they’re doing. I think it differs from guy to guy but you gotta take care of your own business and your own game and kind of take it from there. We’ve got a huge stretch coming up and we can’t look past tomorrow”.
The stretch Laughton was referring to was the three games in four days where the Flyers took on the Capitals, Maple Leafs, and the Penguins. In that stretch, they came away with two of a possible six points which may have very well been the final downfall. Still though, the Flyers are still mathematically alive, and if they can somehow put together a stretch of wins, they just might squeeze in.
As for right now, the Flyers need to take things one game at a time and worry about themselves. They also need production from the third and fourth line guys if they want any chance of playing past the beginning of April. Hopefully for the Flyers sake, guys like Scott Laughton can continue to play at a high level throughout the last few weeks of the regular season and help the Flyers make it to the postseason.
Next up for the Flyers:
The Flyers are back in action tonight as they take on the Montreal Canadiens in what will be a crucial game for both teams. As of right now, the Flyers and Canadiens are both sitting on the outside of the playoff picture. The Canadiens, who sit three points back of a playoff spot and three points ahead of the Flyers in the standings, will no doubt be a hungry team coming into Philadelphia tonight. On the other hand, expect another hard-fought game from the Flyers, who defeated the Penguins on Sunday night in overtime by a final score of 2-1 to keep their season alive. Puck Drop is at 7PM.
As always, Let’s Go Flyers!
Photo Credit: Alex Mcintyre
