Flyers still rolling; will break hurt momentum?
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Flyers still rolling; will break hurt momentum?
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
MONTREAL _ The Flyers have been thriving lately because of their defense.
On Saturday, they put it all together _ offense, defense, special teams.
In one of their best all-around performances since Peter Laviolette became the head coach, the Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, behind Danny Briere's fourth career hat trick.
Positive signs were everywhere. The defense, which received another strong performance from goalie Michael Leighton, has now allowed two or fewer goals in 11 of the last 12 games. The power play, which had been 1 for 22 in the previous five games, was 2 for 3 Saturday, and Blair Betts contributed a momentum-changing shorthanded goal.
Veteran right winger Ian Laperriere didn't score, but he contributed mightily, setting the tone by decking Ryan O'Byrne in a fight four seconds into the game.
“I really liked the fact that Lappy was physical right off the faceoff,” said Laviolette, whose team is 19-14-2 since he replaced John Stevens on Dec. 4. “He just went out and made it a point to let everyone know we were here to play.”
The Flyers have won four straight _ consecutive sweeps of New Jersey and Montreal _ as they head into the Olympic break.
To a man, the non-Olympian Flyers said they welcome the break _ and the chance to get some rest and spend 11 days with their families. They say they will be just as focused when play resumes.
Will the break kill their momentum? Or will they be able to continue rolling when they resume action by playing in Tampa on March 2?
Give us your opinions.
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It was the first time in franchise history the Flyers had won four straight with back-to-back, home-and-home sweeps, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Who knows? They have played some of their best hockey of the year this week, but as we have seen they can go into unexplainable and unexcusable slumps at the drop of a hat. I think it is much better to go in to the break with a good feeling vs. a bad one and I don't get the sense that Laviolette will let them slide. He seems like he has good control of the team. We'll know about 15 minutes into their next game after the break whether they lost their focus.— ferg_1977- Last Olympic season: 33-16-9 pre-break (5-7-3 in last 15 going in); 12-10-2 post-break, scoring 4 goals in first 3 games back (0-2-1). Hopefully that won't happen again, 'cause they've looked great (13-6-0 last 19; 6-2-0 last 8; won last 4)...— Brian F.
- Oh, and don't look now but all of a sudden they have the SECOND-best goal differential in the East (6th in league) going into the break - always a telling stat...— Brian F.
- Sam, and they say the fans are negative? Look at the headline Enjoy it now!— hey buddy
A good team will should not be too much affected by something like the Olympic break. Other NHL teams, same situation.— road515- I'm more concerned about the risks of 1) injury to our players participating in the Olympics and 2) their increased fatigue down the stretch than I am in the others' letting-down after the break.— 88etrain
- Last time the NHL broke for the Olympics, Laviolette won the Cup. Also the Flyers are only sending 4 or 5 players to the Olympics; they sent twice that many last time. I think they can pick up right where they left off when the season resumes.— dirtyfrank
I think the break will hurt the Flyers momentum. It will be hard to get all cranked up again after such a long layoff. And how will this layoff be on the players who are in the Olympics? The key will be which teams can get back in the flow after the break hopefully it will be the Flyers- NJflyerfan - opinions are like your rear-end - every one has one - and everyone believes their own doesn't stink...guess where I think your opinion stands? Sure you're not a NJdevilfan??— mebphila
- The only problem is that they won, yes, but they won against a team that is completely and utterly doomed with injuries. That wasn't a real nhl team that they met. Think about it, get Brière, Carter, Pronger, Gagné out of the lineup, Flyers would'nt have a team to compete. Montreal had six regular top players out of the lineaup, including one of the best if not the best defenseman of the nhl, Markov. No, this was definitely not a real win. Let's see the next time these two teams meet to see the real thing.— bombadil
- These last 4 victories have not convinced me of anything. NJ is in free fall and 1/3 of Montreal's starting lineup is out with injuries. One saving grace is that the Flyers have a relatively forgiving post-Olympic schedule, so they should in theory be able to land a 6-7-8 seed for the playoffs, but I can't see - given their season long inconsistency issues - that they have any real shot at going deep in the playoffs. I still believe this team needs to look at a full culture change in the off-season and finally move to embracing the philosophy of speed, skill, and having a real sniper or two in the lineup that the truly consistent teams in the league have. Just look at Washington, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Chicago, etc. We are no where near those teams at this point in the club's existence.— CTL
- If the gang that is going to the Olympics winds gold....then start engraving the cup right now. If they bomb...they will slow down perhaps but only for a short time.— Hockey Dad
Comment removed.- Bombadil & CTL - Cry me a river on Montreal's injuries & the Devils struggles. Last time I checked we are using a 3rd string goalie. I have NO doubt that both of you would have LAUGHED if I were to suggest a week ago that we would sweep 2 back to back home and home series (somthing that is almost impossible regardless of the matchups). Yet now you want to act like it was nothing to be proud of. Typical Negadelphia fans. And enough already with crying about "inconsistant play". Before the 6 week slump 2 months ago, the Flyers were 12-5, and since it they have gone 17-7, and have been one of the hottest teams in the league. You call that inconsistant??? The Flyers have the 4th ranked offense in the East, the 4th ranked PP in the league, the 2nd best goal differential in the league, a defensive corps as good as ANY team in the league, as much depth as any team in the league, and a goalie putting up numbers as good as any goalie in the league! Just think of where those numbers would be if they didn't hit that snag in December! So quit your whining, 17-7 is hardly inconsistant, and the slump was over 2 months ago - get over it already.— dollarland
- dollarland - No I would not have laughed because it's such an easy and logical guess when you think that meeting one team who is in a dangerous slump and another team that is devastated by injuries, you would be able to win a majority or even make a sweep. Very easy to guess actually. Not because of the late record but because of the opposition. Montreal for one could be a good contender but with almost half of the regular players out, the flyers would have looked so stupid if they lost these games. No I am still convinced that they need to show more before we can say ok, now they are showing something.— bombadil
