Despite a putrid road trip, one where the Flyers only won a single game in six attempts, they rebounded once they got back to South Philadelphia. The orange and black rattled off three wins against four of the NHL’s top teams.
After watching last night’s game against Montreal, there has been one common trend that has brought Philadelphia recent success. Since returning from the trip, the young guns have brought a new style of play and energy into the lineup.
Forwards
Led by Travis Konecny, the under-25 crew on offense has led the charge for Philadelphia.
The past five games have been stellar on the stat sheet. Looking back to the January 8th game against the Capitals, Travis Konecny scored a goal for the youngsters. No points were recorded against Tampa Bay, so fast forward to a match up with the Bruins. TK assisted a Kevin Hayes goal, and Connor Bunnaman picked up his first career goal in the NHL. Wednesday’s game in St. Louis was a youth splurge, as Scott Laughton and TK both scored en route to the victory.
Off the stat sheet is just as important as those producing. Nicholas Aube-Kubel has brought a spark to the lineup. He has worked his way up to the third line with his hard and physical play. Just from the eye test, you can notice he’s fore checking hard, causing defenders to fluster and turn over the puck.
Defense
The defenders are who have been drastically gleaming the past five games. Despite a bit of a blunder against Montreal last night, the under-25 squad has produced on the score sheet, and has kept opponents guessing.
Looking back to the Capitals’ game, Robert Hagg found net for the first time this season, which was helped by Phillipe Myers. To follow that up, Travis Sanheim found the back of the net twice against the Bruins, as Friedman, Hagg, and Myers all picked up assists. Hagg and Ivan Provorov each picked up assists as well.
Away from the stat sheet is where many of these guys are thriving, however. One new guy on the block that has been holding his ground is Mark Friedman. Friedman found the ice for 23 shifts, accumulating 15:14 of ice time, 2 blocked shots, 1 hit, and 1 takeaway to go along with 0 giveaways against the Habs.
Goalies
Carter Hart is the first name that comes to mind in regards to youth on this Flyers’ team. The 21-year-old has made three starts since returning home to face the Capitals. Here are his stats:
| Opponent | Date | W | L | T | GA | SA | S | SV% |
| BOS | 13-Jan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 26 | 0.839 |
| TBL | 11-Jan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 27 | 0.964 |
| WSH | 8-Jan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 26 | 0.929 |
Now, we all know that Hart has been stellar at Wells Fargo Center, and awful on the road. However, for his last three starts before injury, he has been keeping Philadelphia in some games.
Alex Lyon is another name to point out. Sure, he made his first start of this season Thursday night against Montreal, but he made it worth while. Despite surrendering four goals, Lyon made some crazy saves, including a sprawling one that denied Ilya Kovalchuk sitting back door.
Lyon came into this game without much NHL experience, and kept the Flyers in the game to get their legs moving. Unfortunately, Philadelphia couldn’t get much going for most of the game, but Lyon did his part.
The Round-Up
After years of mediocrity under Hextall, and Hakstol, for that matter, the Flyers finally are having the youth infusion that Hextall set them up for. As this has been the case for the majority of the season, the under-25 guys for Philly have been red hot over the past five games. Aside from a few hiccups on the defensive by Sanheim and Myers, the blue line has been stable, and has allowed Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton to do work on the other end.
As the season progresses, this energy and high leverage fore check could be the reason why the Flyers make it to the playoffs. As long as this inexperience doesn’t begin the affect the team come the home stretch and the playoffs, Philadelphia will see playoff hockey once again.
Mandatory Credit – © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
