Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Winnipeg.
Three teams that simply give the Flyers fits - most games _ regardless of whether the team is doing good or bad.
Three road games where the Flyers need to pick up points and climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Of the group, Pittsburgh is the only town where the Flyers have done well in past years, both in the regular season and playoffs.
The Penguins can't seem to beat the Flyers at CONSOL Energy Center and the Flyers can't beat the Pens at Wells Fargo Center.
Someone was saying last night here in Toronto as we await the Hall of Fame ceremonies today, that 13 of the last 16 years, the teams that were locked into a playoff spot on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. were good as gold to make post-season.
The Flyers picked up a point in the standings over the weekend and then lost it back and are now 7 points out of a playoff spot.
Saturday's win against lowly Edmonton triggered a "feel good" situation all-around, if only because Claude Giroux broke out of a 21-game goal drought and the Flyers played a strong third period and actually scored a goal. Hell, they had 4 goals in the game - most all season on home ice.
Coach Craig Berube is hoping that victory is a catalyst for something better on the road.
“I hope so," he said. "I thought we played a real good third period tonight. Even with the late goal they got there. I thought that we kept playing and kept doing the right things. I like the way we got the puck deep……I thought, like, get 30 plus shots a game. Put pucks on that.”
The third period was a good one against the Oilers with two Flyer goals.
“Yeah, we didn’t collapse in the third," Scott Hartnell said. "They did make it interesting on us coming back a couple times there and had some pressure on us but [Steve] Mason was there to stand tall and it was great to see that we were able to continue with getting pucks deep, cycling and things like that it’s what we needed to do.”
My guess is that Berube will give Ray Emery the start in Ottawa against his former club. Then again, given the fact the Flyers are pretty much desperate for points, the safer bet here is to stick with Mason.
Today's practice in Voorhees might offer a clue. So follow Sarah Baicker's reports for CSNPhilly.com for more on it:
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