Flyers must mount a playoff run
With 26 games remaining in the regular season, the postseason has become a more frequent topic in the Flyers locker room - and for good reason.
With 26 games remaining in the regular season, the postseason has become a more frequent topic in the Flyers locker room - and for good reason.
Every game from this point has to feel like a playoff matchup because there is so much competition, especially for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Before Tuesday's games, just seven points separated the last-place team in the East from the second wild card.
"Everyone is close. Even the last-place team could catch up if somebody falters too much," right winger Wayne Simmonds said after practice Tuesday before the team boarded a plane for a three-game trip to Western Canada, beginning Wednesday in Calgary.
"Everything is going to be really tight going down the backstretch."
The Flyers have 61 points, and that put them just below Toronto and the second wild-card spot entering Tuesday. The Maple Leafs also had 61 points but had two games in hand.
"For us, the playoff hockey is starting right now," goalie Michal Neuvirth said.
After Calgary, the Flyers will visit Edmonton on Thursday and Vancouver on Sunday.
The Flyers are 10-13-3 on the road, so they will have to do better in their remaining 15 games away from the Wells Fargo Center.
They will also have to get their offens in gear.
While the defense has tightened up considerably, the offense has scored a total of three goals in the last four games, including two in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win over visiting San Jose.
The Flyers have a minus-21 goal differential. None of the eight teams ahead of them on Tuesday had a negative goal differential.
The players don't appear too concerned about the offensive struggles.
"The offense is coming out of it. We're fine," said Simmonds, who scored his first career overtime goal Saturday. "Sometimes your offense dries up. It happens."
If only it were that simple. The Flyers have scored two or fewer goals in nine of the last 11 games.
"I firmly believe we are having chances. All four lines are rolling, and we have quality chances and need to find a way to put it in," captain Claude Giroux said.
Actually, Giroux will have to get on a roll. When the Flyers went on their 10-game winning streak earlier this season, Giroux had five goals, seven assists, and a plus-10 rating.
In his last 21 games, he has two goals, eight assists, and a minus-17 rating.
Just as the Flyers began Tuesday one position behind the final wild-card spot, so did Calgary in the Western Conference. So if ever a game will have a playoff feel it should be Wednesday's.
"They are fighting for a playoff spot. We are fighting for a playoff spot. So you definitely know that game is going to be electric," Simmonds said.
To earn a second consecutive playoff berth, the Flyers are going to have to be more consistent.
"We know we are a streaky team," Neuvirth said. "When we get hot, we get hot."
The players know that it's time for them to start heating.
"It is still in our hands, and there are a lot of games left," Neuvirth said. "We have to play one game at a time, play every game like playoff hockey."
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