Struggling Flyers embark on road trip that could define the direction of their season
After a strong start under John Tortorella, the Flyers have lost 13 of 15 games. How they fare during this four-game road trip will go a long way in determining the goals for the rest of the season.
This is where the 2022 Flyers were given a sense of false hope.
On Dec. 10, 2021, the Flyers snapped a 10-game losing streak with a road win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They proceeded to go on a seven-game point streak (5-0-2) to pull their record above .500 to end December. Things were looking up — until the Flyers immediately spiraled down into a historic 13-game losing streak to begin the calendar year.
On Friday, almost exactly a year to the day, the 2023 Flyers enter their matchup with the Golden Knights in a nearly identical place. Like last year’s version, the Flyers already have suffered through a 10-game losing streak. They’re 9-13-5 compared to 8-11-5 on this date last year.
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These Flyers have lost 13 of 15, but, somewhat amazingly, they still are only eight points out of a wild-card spot. While injuries have been a theme the past two seasons, the bright spot for this year’s Flyers is that they’ve started to get some of those key injured players back.
At this time last season, Kevin Hayes had just returned from injury but still was fighting an unknown ailment, later discovered to be a blood infection in his groin area. Derick Brassard was out with what proved to be a nagging hip injury, and Joel Farabee had just injured his shoulder, which would cost him seven games. Top forward Sean Couturier was still playing but clearly limited because of a back injury that has required two surgeries.
A year later, Couturier remains out, but three veterans recently have returned to the lineup. Scott Laughton (upper body) returned Nov. 29, just in time to help snap the losing streak. Travis Konecny (hand) returned Dec. 1 and has registered a point in all four games since. Finally, James van Riemsdyk (broken finger), who scored five points over the first six games this season, made his return Wednesday against Washington.
If the Flyers are going to forge a new path, one that’s not eerily similar to last season’s, now is the time. While the results don’t show it, they’ve been playing better lately, and now, as they get healthy, they’re adding much-needed offensive talent back into a lineup that is averaging a league-worst 2.41 goals. The Flyers on Thursday also called up offensive-minded defense prospect Cam York, who will make his season debut on Friday in place of Tony DeAngelo (healthy scratch).
Coach John Tortorella believes that hitting the road is the best thing for the Flyers at the moment.
“Yeah, we need to get out of here,” Tortorella said Wednesday after a home loss to the Capitals. “Our record doesn’t show it. I think we’ve made some really good improvements in a lot of our game. It would’ve been nice before you go on the road to win two in a row. I wanted it for them, just for confidence.
“We just didn’t find a way here. Going on the road and this type of trip here. Going out west, I think it’ll be good for our team. Playing some really good hockey teams. We’ve been here a while. It’s been enough. Five games at home, it’s enough. It’s time to get on the road.”
The four-game road trip will by no means be easy. The Flyers will alternate travel days and game days as they fly all over the country. But there’s hope they could salvage at least a .500 record.
The Golden Knights and the New Jersey Devils are hot right now, and the Colorado Avalanche are the reigning Stanley Cup champions. On paper, the game against the Arizona Coyotes looks the most winnable. However, the Avalanche are ravaged by injuries, which helped the Flyers beat them at the Wells Fargo Center this week. And while the Devils are leading the division, the Flyers have played them tough twice this season, beating the Devils, 5-2, on opening night.
The schedule won’t get much easier once the Flyers return with home games against the New York Rangers and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets may be last in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve proven to be the Flyers’ kryptonite this season with a 2-0 record against the Orange and Black. Then come away games against contenders Toronto and Carolina.
After that, the Flyers hit the west coast to begin their annual holiday road trip, which historically is a tough run for them. This also will mark the anniversary of the beginning of last year’s record-breaking 13-game losing streak, which doused the bit of hope the Flyers had built after taking down the Golden Knights.
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General manager Chuck Fletcher pointed out on Dec. 1 that the Flyers still are in the playoff hunt and that he expects “to be more competitive the rest of the way.”In reality, competing for a playoff place seems highly unlikely, given the current composition of the roster and the fact that the Flyers would need to jump six teams ahead of them in the standings.
But if the Flyers are to surprise and get back into the playoff picture it needs to start now, beginning with Friday’s test against the first-place Golden Knights.