Flyers say it’s the ‘perfect time’ to hit the road as they reach the final stretch

It seems like every stretch of this Flyers season has brought a new test.

After a seven-game gauntlet against some of the top teams in the NHL in March, the Flyers had a key homestand in which they were upset by the lowly Chicago Blackhawks and fell in overtime to the New York Islanders, one of their chief playoff rivals. Starting Friday, the Flyers will embark on a crucial four-game road trip with a tenuous hold on third place in the Metropolitan Division.

They kick things off with a back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday and Saturday before visiting Montreal on Tuesday and the New York Rangers on Thursday.

» READ MORE: ‘We’re here, face it’: John Tortorella’s Flyers are blocking out the noise as they hit the playoff stretch run

Luckily for the Flyers, they’re mathematically a better team when they play away from the Wells Fargo Center. They hold the 11th-best road record (17-13-7) in the NHL this season, compared to the 22nd-best record (19-16-4) at home. The Flyers have a .554 points percentage on the road, compared to .538 at home.

“I think it’s a perfect time for us to go, because then we’re all together,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “As much as family is so important, the most important thing in your life, I think when you get away from your family, you’re on the road with your team, you’re with your team.

“I think it’s a really good time, I think we have four [road games] here, for us to be together and try to work through some stuff. To see if we can get to the finish line here, as far as trying to get in.”

Winger Owen Tippett echoed that team chemistry has translated to success on the road.

“It’s funny how it works out that way,” Tippett said. “I don’t think we prepare any different for the games, but obviously we enjoy going on the road and being with each other and spending that time. I think it goes to show just the chemistry that we have.”

The camaraderie was on display after practice Thursday. Even though the stakes are the highest they’ve been for the Flyers since the 2019-20 season, the team has found ways to stay loose. Following a practice that Tortorella described as “high-energy,” every player stayed on the ice after the coaches left to play a shootout game together.

“It’s a real special group as far as that’s concerned, how they get along, the camaraderie of it,” Tortorella said. “That’s been so good this year and hasn’t changed. It’s my job to define the level we need to get to. ... I think they’re willing to make the next step, and we’re going to do it together.”

Three of the Flyers’ four upcoming opponents — Buffalo, Columbus, and Montreal — are either eliminated or all but out of the playoff picture. But if the Flyers learned anything from the Chicago loss, it’s not to take those teams lightly.

“We have to to prepare for it as if we are playing top teams in the league, and if we do that, there’s not many teams that can stop us,” Tippett said.

» READ MORE: John Tortorella’s rant Monday was familiar. It was also reason to wonder about his future with the Flyers.

Even without much to play for, each of those teams has had some recent success. Buffalo has a 7-5-0 record over its last 12 games, including wins over other teams in the playoff mix like the Washington Capitals, Edmonton Oilers, Islanders, and Detroit Red Wings. Columbus has been mathematically eliminated but has won two straight. And the Flyers are coming off a 4-1 loss just last week to the Canadiens.

The trip will conclude at the Rangers, a team that the Flyers have yet to get the better of this season. In their last meeting on March 26, the Orange and Black fell, 6-5, in overtime.

Center Sean Couturier was the only nonparticipant in practice. He sat out for the second consecutive day after suffering an upper-body injury in Monday’s loss to the Islanders. Tortorella called him “day-to-day” on Wednesday, and the team announced that he will not travel with the team and will be unavailable for the Buffalo and Columbus games.