No rest, no problem: The Flyers have handled back-to-backs well this year | On the Fly
The Flyers are scheduled to play more back-to-back games than any of the East Division's front-runners. Sean Couturier's advice: Keep It Simple.
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Nutrition, hydration, rest.
That’s how the Flyers are spending the 21 or so hours between Monday’s admirable, but disappointing loss to the Islanders and Tuesday’s game against the Devils.
It will be their sixth back-to-back contest of the season with six more still to go. How have they fared? Glad you asked.
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Flyers record in second half of back-to-backs
The Flyers are two points behind Boston in the race for the division’s final playoff spot. One of the reasons the deficit is so thin is how well the Flyers have performed in the second half of back-to-back games.
Even though these guys get paid millions of dollars to play for a living, having games on consecutive nights is a grind. The Flyers are 4-1 this season in such games for a .800 points winning percentage. They are 11-10-4 in their other 25 games, a .520 PWP.
“Sometimes in back-to-backs you don’t have that energy,” Sean Couturier said. “But when you simplify things, it makes it that much easier. We’ve been good, but we just gotta find a way to get wins.”
Granted, five games are a light sample size, but going back to last year, the Flyers have won the second game in nine of their last 12 B2Bs in the regular season. They lost both they played in the postseason.
“We have to be ready to go,” Claude Giroux said. “I feel the last few weeks, we would have a good game and then a bad game. [Monday] was a good game.”
Giroux said that every team is enduring the same hardships in the schedule, but that’s not entirely accurate. Of the top six teams fighting for the four East Division playoff spots, nobody will play more back-to-backs than the Flyers. As it stands now, that is.
The Bruins still need two of their games to be rescheduled because of their recent COVID-19 outbreak. The Islanders have one: tonight’s game in Boston that has been postponed without a makeup date. They also will play the Bruins on Thursday, and that game is still on.
After getting a point with solid play Monday, getting two from the Devils is critical for the Flyers. So eat up, drink up and rest up.
“Obviously, back-to-backs are not easy, especially with the schedule we’ve had the last few weeks,” Giroux said. “It’s a big game for us. We need to bear down and play our best here.”
East Division records in the second half of back-to-back games (listed in current standings order): Islanders 4-0-1, Capitals 4-1, Penguins 1-2-1, Bruins 1-2, Flyers 4-1, Rangers 1-1, Devils 3-2-1, Sabres 1-7.
Remaining B2B occurrences: Islanders 3, Capitals 5, Penguins 5, Bruins 6, Flyers 7, Rangers 5, Devils 5, Sabres 6.
Flyers opponents in the second game of their remaining back-to-backs: Devils (March 23), Bruins (April 6), Sabres (April 11), Islanders (April 18), at Rangers (April 23), Penguins (May 4), at Capitals (May 8).
Total B2B occurrences: Islanders 8, Capitals 10, Penguins 9, Bruins 9, Flyers 12, Rangers 7, Devils 11, Sabres 14.
Don’t miss our Flyers coverage
“It was a good game to build on, even if it was a tough result,” said Couturier, who played almost 19 minutes after being a late scratch Saturday. The Flyers played well, but Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin was the difference in the 2-1 loss.
The exquisite work from photographer Yong Kim off Monday’s Flyers-Islanders game is must-see. His shot of Kevin Hayes with blood running down his nose is terrific.
Shayne Gostisbehere goes back in the lineup and back on the top pairing, which just shows what a state of disarray the Flyers’ defensive group is in.
This year’s team started 8-3-2, but has dropped dramatically since six regulars were placed on the COVID-19 list and their season was paused. Since then, the Flyers are 7-8-2 (counting Monday) and in danger of falling out of the playoff race unless they rebound quickly. What will Chuck Fletcher do?
Sam Carchidi puts down his hockey stick and picks up his teacher’s pointer to hand out first-half grades for all the Flyers. See who’s been naughty and nice.
OK, now this is funny. Somebody posted this after the Flyers lost to the Islanders, 6-1, on Saturday.
Better the Devils you know
It’s been nearly two months since the Flyers last played New Jersey, so how ‘bout a little refresher on the pride of Newark, N.J.?
Have won three of their last four after a 2-10-2 stretch put a major crimp in their playoff aspirations.
First-year captain Nico Hischier likely will miss another two weeks after a sinus fracture on Feb. 27 required surgery last week. Sounds painful. Hischier, who also had COVID-19 and a preseason leg injury, has played in just five games this season.
The Devils are a ghastly 4-11-2 at home, but 7-3-2 on the road. Their .667 points percentage in road games is second in the division to Washington (.668). The Flyers’ home points percentage is .567 (7-5-3).
Jack Hughes, the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, has seven goals and is plus-1 in 29 games. He had seven goals in 61 games last season, when he was -26.
According to NHL PR, 54% of the points scored by New Jersey players has come from those 23 years old or younger.
The Flyers won their only two meetings of the year with the Devils, Jan. 26 and Jan. 28. Both were in Jersey.
Flyers’ next five
Tuesday: vs. New Jersey, 7 p.m. (NBCSP locally, NBCSN nationally)
Thursday: vs. N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m. (NBCSP)
Saturday: vs. N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m. (NBCSP)
Monday: at Buffalo, 7 p.m. (NBCSP)
Wednesday, March 31: at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m. (NBCSP locally, NBCSN nationally)
From the fans
The topic of possibly trading James van Riemsdyk came up on Twitter and a couple fans chimed in with some interesting thoughts. We added some punctuation and cleaned up the spelling where necessary, but it was good stuff.
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I would. JVR is having the best year of his career and odds are next year the contract will be an albatross again. Now’s the chance to move it. You gotta take it. Flyers might make the playoffs but they can’t win the Cup, so what’s the point?
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Yeah, so let’s trade the team’s leading scorer at the deadline when we’re three points out of a playoff spot? Lol.
Last year on a down year he was on a 24-goal/50-point pace. Now he’s playing at a point a game pace with only two years left on a contract while in the playoff hunt. How would now be the time to move on? If you make the playoffs and get hot, you never know what can happen (see 2010).
Send questions or observations via Twitter to beat writers Ed Barkowitz (@EdBarkowitz) or Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull).