The Philadelphia Flyers have had quite the interesting season up until this point, but they find themselves second from bottom in the Metropolitan Division heading into the National Hockey League’s All-Star Break.
The biggest reason the Flyers find themselves where they do in the standings is because they went on a 13-game losing streak that saw them go nearly the entire month of January without a victory. Fortunately for the Flyers and their fans, the team were able to snap the losing skid on January 29th with a 4-3 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings. They managed to follow that up with their second win in a row on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
Despite the back-to-back wins though, the Flyers could certainly use a break from the action.
“I think it would be best for us to just step away from the game a little bit. Reset, get refreshed,” Flyers goalie Carter Hart admitted after he made 32 saves against the Jets to help lead his team to victory, via CBC. “I think it’ll be a good break for us. We just have to make sure we’re ready to go for the next game.”
It had been a tough stretch for the Flyers who found a plethora of ways to lose games during their streak, something they are happy to be on the other end of now. They also believe that the experience they went through will only make them a better team in the end.
“It sounds crazy that we were losing all those games, but I could feel improvement,” Flyers coach Mike Yeo claimed. “We’re building confidence in the type of game we want to play. I feel we’re building better habits…I feel there’s a lot of progress, but I feel there’s still a long way to go for us.”
Unlike during their losing streak, the Flyers found a way to get the job done on Tuesday against the Jets by scoring a late winner with just 4:09 left to play in the third period. Veteran James van Riemsdyk found the back of the net to give his side the 2-1 lead that would ultimately give them two points. Philadelphia went down early in the contest, but managed to keep calm and stay focused on the task at hand.
“It is cliche but I think the best teams, the best players, that’s what you do,” van Riemsdyk said. “If it goes good, goes bad, you worry about the next play. We’ve kind of gotten back to basics a little bit.”
The Flyers will be sending just one representative to the NHL All-Star Game – Claude Giroux. The Philadelphia captain will be appearing in the seventh All-Star Game of his career. The All-Star Game will take place on Sunday February 5th from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Flyers will next be in action after the break on February 9th, when they host the Detroit Red Wings at the Wells Fargo Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm ET.
