The Philadelphia Flyers traveled to upstate to New York on Friday to take on the Buffalo Sabres in what would have been a prime opportunity to put some distance between themselves and their competition in the race for the Metropolitan Division's third playoff spot.
The Philadelphia Flyers traveled to upstate to New York on Friday to take on the Buffalo Sabres in what would have been a prime opportunity to put some distance between themselves and their competition in the race for the Metropolitan Division's third playoff spot.
Despite losing to the Sabres 4-2, the Flyers lucked out immensely with the fact that both the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes (who have already clinched playoff spots) won their games, keeping the Flyers' playoff hopes alive in the second wild card spot, but not anywhere near far from third place in the division.
"We Just Didn't Finish."
One of the more frustrating aspects of the Flyers' performance in Buffalo was the fact that they did dominate for much of the game and had plenty of great scoring chances, but couldn't capitalize on them. Part of that was due to some excellent goaltending by the Sabres' Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but it was also partially because the Flyers couldn't get the final connection in front of the goal.
Head coach John Tortorella said that he thought that his team "played the right way," but acknowledged that a big reason they didn't score more and come away with the two points was because "we just didn't finish."
Despite not having the easiest time finishing chances, the Flyers did show promising dominance in the offensive zone, something that Tortorella said he hopes the team can build on even more when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Fedotov's First Start
Fans got incredibly excited when it was announced that new goaltender Ivan Fedotov would be starting in net against the Sabres, giving Sam Ersson some much-needed rest and allowing Fedotov to show what he's got in a full NHL game.
Despite it being his first full game in a new league, the criticism came in hard for Fedotov, who admittedly didn't look as fluid and calm in net as he did when he replaced Ersson against the New York Islanders.
"Not great feelings," Fedotov said of his performance. "I should be better—better adapted, better at all things...[It was a] hard game."
At this point in the season, it's very easy to panic and pass judgment on a less-than-ideal performance from a goalie that received a lot of hype. But it is important to remember that Fedotov has only been with the team for a little over a week, and is still adjusting to a new everything (country, league, pads, etc.) He took full accountability for not playing his best, and will no doubt be looking to make improvements for his next start.
Stayin' Alive
Nobody could quite believe it when it turned out the Flyers were still very much in the playoff race, but they are, and they still control much of their own destiny. Even when they're on a season-worst six-game losing streak, they're still right in the thick of the Metro Division playoff push, which is very fitting for the character of this team.
They always find a way.
We've been saying it pretty much every single game for the past couple of weeks, but this time, it really is do-or-die—the game against the Blue Jackets is a must-win. If they can snap the losing streak and continue building momentum for the remaining two away games after Columbus, they can absolutely right the ship and make it to the postseason without having to deal with the stress of being in a wild card spot. It's a lot of math and tiebreakers and scoreboard-watching, but the Flyers certainly—like they've been all season—cannot fully be counted out yet.
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