Flyers appear to be regaining their postseason swagger
Almost one month into their grueling, 82-game season, the Flyers are still a work in progress. Still searching for an identity, although it's coming.
Almost one month into their grueling, 82-game season, the Flyers are still a work in progress.
Still searching for an identity, although it's coming.
Still striving for consistency. (That's coming, too.)
Still trying to regain the chemistry that produced their remarkable drive to the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
The good news, from the Flyers' perspective, is that they are beginning to regain their swagger, beginning to play three good periods in most games, beginning to resemble the team that captured the imagination of the hockey world in the 2010 postseason.
After a scuffling start that may have been missed because of the Phillies' fascinating playoff run, the Flyers (6-4-1) have won three straight and climbed to No. 1 in the Atlantic Division and No. 4 in the Eastern Conference.
So far, the positives outweigh the negatives. Consider:
The rebuilt defense has been solid, as advertised.
Rookie Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky, demonstrating great lateral quickness, is blossoming into the Flyers' goalie of the future - and perhaps present. Bobrovsky, who is 5-2 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .917 save percentage, has gotten a chance because of an injury to starter Michael Leighton. He has made the most of that opportunity.
The penalty kill, with Blair Betts and Darroll Powe doing a lot of the dirty work, has been among the league's best (seventh in the NHL, with an 87.9 success rate).
The line of Danny Briere centering Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino has been the team's best unit - just as it was in the 2010 postseason.
Center Claude Giroux, who leads the NHL with three shorthanded goals, is establishing himself as one of the league's elite young players.
After a bumpy start, Jeff Carter, a converted center, is beginning to get comfortable at right wing, where he has the luxury of playing next to the smooth-passing Giroux.
The Flyers have steadied themselves after a 3-4-1 start.
"We're going in the right direction," Briere said after a team meeting Sunday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. "Except for the game in Columbus [last Monday], I thought our last five or six games have been really good. It seems like we're playing with more confidence. We're supporting each other better, especially in the offensive zone. That's something we weren't doing very well early in the year.
"Now our defensemen are coming down and we're supporting them from behind. It leads to a lot more time spent in the offensive zone and more scoring chances."
"We're back in sync," left winger Hartnell said.
The power play, which had been near the bottom in the 30-team NHL, has climbed to No. 12.
"You start to see things in our game we like," coach Peter Laviolette said. "The attack and the consistency, there's been a lot more of it. And defensively, we're getting tighter."
That's not to say there aren't concerns in Flyersdom. Among them:
Too many penalties and, at times, a lack of discipline. The Flyers lead the NHL in a dubious category: most minor penalties (67). They are averaging 21.4 penalty minutes per game, the league's second-highest figure.
Inconsistency on the power play - though it's improving - and on face-offs. The Flyers are 23d in the 30-team NHL with a 48.2 percent success rate on draws.
Not enough scoring from the wingers, especially James van Riemsdyk (no goals, four assists) and Nik Zherdev (two goals, no assists).
Still, all in all, the Flyers are on the right track, despite losing one of the franchise's faces, Ian Laperriere, the gritty fourth-line winger who has been sidelined by post-concussion syndrome and may never play again.
Is this team good enough to make another Cup run?
Defensively, yes. The Flyers have great depth on defense, and Bobrovsky has been a revelation - and could put the team in a goalie quandary when Leighton returns from back surgery in a few weeks.
Offensively, there are questions. Lots of questions. But positive signs have emerged recently.
"Some nights are good and we can see who we are," Laviolette said earlier in the week. "Other nights, we forget, or we're not quite as sharp as we need to be."
Give the Flyers a mulligan for their slow start. Early in the season, no matter how hard they tried, it would have been impossible to maintain the intensity they demonstrated in the 2010 postseason.
Yes, the Flyers looked as if they had a playoff hangover in the first eight games. But better teamwork, the improved health of star defenseman Chris Pronger, and more balanced scoring in the last three games have them headed in the right direction.
We'll give them a B for their work thus far. And that grade is moving upward as they have begun to regain the aura - or swagger - that they carried toward the end of last season.
Inside the Flyers: How They Rate
Here is how the Flyers rank in several key areas:
Goals per game: 3.09 (8th out of 30 in NHL)
Goals against per game: 2.46 (10th)
Power-play percentage: 17 (12th)
Penalty-kill percentage: 87.9 (7th)
Face-off percentage: 48.2 (23d)
Shots per game: 31.7 (10th)
Shots against per game: 26.7 (3d)
Penalty minutes per game: 21.4 (29th)
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