Flyers begin huge month with big victory

THE FIRST game won't make or break what the Flyers concede is their most important month of the season.

The Flyers have their busiest month of the season with 15 games - the final being on Feb. 29 at home against the Calgary Flames.

It is complicated by the fact that they'll have five straight games away from home from Feb. 14-23 because ventriloquist/standup comedian Jeff Dunham and then the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will play the Wells Fargo Center.

That a ventriloquist with a bunch of puppets needs a venue the size of Wells Fargo is beyond me, but the lowest-priced ticket is $27.

Nevertheless, the Flyers play at the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes.

With the exception of Toronto, those teams all have as many or more points than the Flyers in the race for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

So really, blowing an early two-goal lead to Montreal on Tuesday at Wells Fargo wasn't the way to start a stretch that the Flyers, almost to a man, said was crucial to their postseason hopes.

On the other hand, rallying back for a 4-2 victory that included the killing of a five-minute power play to protect a one-goal lead late in the third period was the kind of high-character effort a team that's serious about making the playoffs has to have.

That was a four-point swing game that leaves the Flyers tied with the Canadiens with 52 points.

"Going down the backstretch we're playing a lot of teams in our division and the conference," said Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds, who scored two goals. "If we can handle our business, we should be fine.

"It's a four-point swing tonight. We were two points behind Montreal. We didn't allow them to get the two and we got the two. This is a huge win for us."

By the end of February, the Flyers will have played 62 games. The odds are that they will be in a similar position to the one they are now - battling for but certainly not assured of having a playoff spot.

Once that 20-game sprint to the end of the regular season starts, the value of every point gained or lost will be a bigger topic of discussion but realistically, they won't count any more in the big picture than the ones the Flyers earned against Montreal.

This simply is not the time to give away points, not with the gantlet of games they have coming up.

"I like that we have games every other day," winger Jake Voracek said. "I don't like practice. I'd rather play games.

"It's good for us, but we've got to make sure we find a way to win games like we did tonight."

For some reason, the Flyers have struggled when coming off extended breaks between games, so they were determined to come out strong after the All-Star break. Having a chippy opponent in Montreal guaranteed that the Flyers would not be complacent.

"It was a fun game, emotional," Voracek said. "There were penalties on both sides. Great skating. You could tell both teams were well-rested.

"The first 10 minutes was kind of shotgun hockey - not much defense. Then it settled down and became a good game to watch.

"Every game is important for both teams. We're battling for the playoffs. From the first minute of the game, it was emotional. There was a lot of chirping going on. Games like that are fun to play."

Goals by Simmonds and Brayden Schenn put the Flyers up early, but Montreal had evened it at two going into the third period.

Simmonds' second goal put the Flyers up 3-2 with a little more than 8 minutes remaining.

Fighting for the playoffs isn't easy, however, and a five-minute major plus a game misconduct incurred by Radko Gudas guaranteed the Flyers would have work left to do.

Ranked 26th in penalty killing, the Flyers came up big by stopping the Canadiens from getting an equalizer.

"Obviously that penalty was unfortunate," Simmonds said, "but our PKers did a great job for us.

"We started out strong getting those two goals and then had kind of a lull. But we kept our composure and kept going."

There is a lot of hockey left to play, and there are sure to be ups and downs and swings in the tide.

Still, if the Flyers are correct and February is going to be their most critical month, then the effort they put up on Tuesday against Montreal was a good way to get things started in the right direction.

Email: smallwj@phillynews.com

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