For Flyers, it’s been home-ice disadvantage this season
In one year, the Flyers have gone from having the NHL's best home record to having one of the worst.
The Flyers’ perplexing season has included a lot of head-scratching developments, including their poor play at the Wells Fargo Center.
A year ago, they had the NHL’s best home record (25-6-4); this season, they have one of the league’s worst records (10-11-4) on home ice.
They have three home games remaining – facing Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday, and hosting New Jersey on May 10. They are in danger of having just their sixth losing home record in franchise history.
“There’s a lot of frustration,” captain Claude Giroux said. “Our record at home this year hasn’t been good, and to be honest, I’m not too sure what to say here.”
The Flyers have had losing records at home five times since the franchise started in 1967-68, the last one coming in 2006-07 (10-24-7), a season in which the team had some young players like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, R.J. Umberger, Scottie Upshall, Joni Pitkänen, and Braydon Coburn.
Hextall’s revival
The Penguins’ season has had a revival since Ron Hextall was hired as their general manager on Feb. 9.
At the time, the Penguins were 5-5-1 and in fifth place in the East Division – seven points behind the second-place Flyers. Since then, they are 29-10-2 and have climbed to the top of the East, two points ahead of Washington.
» READ MORE: From the archives: Flyers made wrong move by firing Ron Hextall | Sam Carchidi
Hextall, of course, was formerly the Flyers’ general manager, and he is responsible for drafting several players on Philadelphia’s current roster, including Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Carter Hart, Oskar Lindblom, Nolan Patrick, and Wade Allison.
Breakaways
The Flyers are 4-2 against the Penguins this season. ... Former Flyer Jeff Carter has four goals and six points in 10 games since the Penguins acquired him from Los Angeles for conditional third- and fourth-round draft picks. He is plus-5 in the last five games. ... Jake Voracek has six points, all assists, in the last five games. ... The Penguins, despite an injury-plagued season, have showcased their depth and are third in the league in scoring (3.37 goals per game), while the Flyers are 17th (2.77 per game). ... Scott Laughton (plus-8) and Provorov (plus-1) are the Flyers’ only “plus” players. Patrick is a team-worst minus-23. ... The Penguins have 21 “plus” players, headed by defensemen Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin, each at plus-18.