The Philadelphia Flyers make their way down south to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in another crucial Metro Division matchup as they look to hold put some distance in the current standings.
The Philadelphia Flyers make their way down south to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in another crucial Metro Division matchup as they look to hold put some distance in the current standings.
The Flyers are coming off of a much-needed win against the Toronto Maple Leafs—a huge confidence booster that will no doubt have the team's energy high in Carolina. The pressure is still on, though, as every point will be crucial in keeping their playoff spot out of the hands of the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders, who have been gaining ground in recent games.
Keeping Momentum
Although they stumbled a little in the third period against the Maple Leafs, the Flyers played a heck of a game against them. They took advantage of every little opportunity the Leafs gifted to them, kept the offensive pressure on, and displayed some excellent defensive skill as well. It was a promising performance, and one that fans will be hoping to see a repeat of against the Hurricanes.
Carolina will be another challenging opponent for the Flyers, but if the likes of Morgan Frost, Cam York, and Sam Ersson (among others, of course) can stay hot, the "tough" schedule that lays ahead of them won't be all that intimidating. The key for the Flyers now is to keep the consistency as much as possible. They've had so many hurdles to jump over in the past few months that they've forgotten what smooth sailing feels like. If they can just embrace the way that they've found their stride amidst an intensely tumultuous period, they will be able to get the most out of the rest of their regular season.
Protecting Ersson
Sam Ersson will be starting in net against the Hurricanes after what head coach John Tortorella called an "outstanding" game against the Leafs. Ersson has proven time and time again that he is more than willing to start as many games as the team needs him to, but it still stands that he's a rookie goaltender who is still figuring out how to be in that No. 1 position. It's safe to say that the team will be deploying Ersson in the majority of the remainder of the regular season games, but the defense has to continue stepping up to the plate to make sure he doesn't have to do the absolute most to keep the Flyers in games.
The recent call-ups of Adam Ginning and Ronnie Attard have proven to be successful so far for the Flyers defense. For defensemen with little previous NHL experience, they've been able to hold their own at the back end.
In terms of playing with so many injuries to their blue line, Tortorella said, "We haven't changed. I think it's been a little bit slower transition in our game due to the different personnel, but we haven't changed in terms of our philosophy. We want to play on our toes and take our chances that way."
Time To Shine
It's been said over and over—this is the time for the young guys to step up. Well, they have. Consistently. And they've been shouldering quite a bit of the Flyers' success recently—which is a great thing! However, the same concerns surrounding burnout arise for them as they do with Ersson. The young players are doing their part, especially when it comes to generating offense.
When a variety of players are on their game, the Flyers can control games as easily as it is for them to breathe. But when a select group is tasked with picking up everyone else's slack, the imbalance is glaringly obvious, and while it may garner short-term wins in the short-term, it's not a good model for the "sustainable success" the front office is envisioning during this rebuild.
Flyers Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Tippett - Frost - Konecny
Farabee - Laughton - Brink
Foerster - Poehling - Hathaway
Deslauriers - Cates - Lycksell
Defense:
York - Sanheim
Zamula - Johnson
Ginning - Attard
Starting Goalie:
Ersson
Hurricanes Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Guentzel - Aho - Jarvis
Svechnikov - Kuznetsov - Necas
Martinook - Staal - Fast
Lemieux - Kotkaniemi - Noesen
Defense:
Slavin - Burns
Skjei - Pesce
Orlov - Chatfield
Starting Goalie:
Andersen
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