There's no better way for the Philadelphia Flyers end their recent gauntlet of a schedule than a trip to Madison Square Garden to take on the league-best New York Rangers.
There's no better way for the Philadelphia Flyers end their recent gauntlet of a schedule than a trip to Madison Square Garden to take on the league-best New York Rangers.
The Flyers have had their struggles after such an exhausting stretch of games a month that has been their busiest yet, but have kept their heads high and are still holding tight to their playoff position. They've established that they can beat the best, so it really is anyone's game tonight.
Keeping The Faith
The Flyers have no shortage of fight in them, and that mentality hasn't changed over this intense stretch of games, and head coach John Tortorella has been impressed with how his players have conducted themselves.
"We've been really consistent in how we've had to play going through a gauntlet of the top teams, especially away from the puck. I think the biggest that we really tried to concentrate on was to be connected in all three zones."
Playing some of the best teams in the league in a row can be daunting, especially with the injuries the Flyers have had deal with, but Tortorella clarified that it's no excuse for not giving everything they have to win games.
"If we win some games, maybe we get in, and we're going to have to play that way when we're in," he said. "All teams are doing it, working on this part, the details of how you have to play at this time of year. I respect our group and how banged-up we are, how we have quite a bit of youth. They've played so well as a team—that's the only way we can survive, is as a team."
If anything, the past several games have been a valuable learning experience for the players, coaches, and management.
"That's the important part of it right now for us, as the Flyers organization, is evaluating when we're going through this," he said. "We're not in the realm of some of the top teams we're playing, and that's certainly not criticizing our team, but we're not there yet, we're not close. But to have them compete in these kinds of situations and see how they react—these are questions we're going to have to answer as we keep on going and keep on building here. So, for us, to put ourselves in these situations and playing these kinds of game at this time of year, really important for the management and coaches and the whole organization to see what this is all about."
The Defensemen Are Alright
It felt like being in the middle of a nightmare with how many hits the Flyers' back line had to deal with in such a short amount of time—Rasmus Ristolainen, Jamie Drysdale, and Nick Seeler all came down hurt, while Sean Walker was traded to the Colorado Avalanche—but the call-ups from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have proven themselves to be more than capable of handling the challenge.
"We didn't know a bunch about them," Tortorella admitted. "You see them in camp, you make some judgments on exhibition games, totally different than the regular season—especially this time of year. The thing that I really am impressed with is I don't think they're nervous at all. It's such a good thing for our organization."
Tortorella went on to highlight how big of an adjustment the team has had to go through, but highlighted how ideal the response to adversity has been.
"We didn't want to go through with the injuries we're going through, we knew deals were gonna be made, this has changed the landscape of our back end, but now you get the good things out of it," he said. "They're getting tremendous experience, we're evaluating as we try to build this team, so there's a lot of good things.
"I just think they handle themselves so well just not being overwhelmed by the situation, especially with the games they've had to play right away in this stretch. Surprised a little bit, there were mistakes made, but they've been able to get back out and it doesn't affect them. That's what's been really impressive."
Good Vibes Only
Spirits were high in the locker room after morning skate, which is not unusual for this Flyers group, but it was a surprisingly reassuring feeling to see how relaxed and confident they're able to be after what could kindly be described as a stressful month. Laughing, joking about potential future alternate captains (Travis Konecny's money is on Cam York), discussing March Madness brackets and excitement for the start of baseball season just shows not just how together this team is, but how they don't get in their heads too badly or get debilitated by stress about whatever challenge is in front of them.
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