Now that another successful Flyers' Wives Fight For Lives Carnival has raised over a million dollars for charity, the team can turn its attention to a grueling week-long road trip that will take the Flyers from Winnipeg to two stops in Alberta and then conclude in San Jose.
The team wakes up this morning in third place in the Atlantic Division. Most eyes were focused on the Pittsburgh-Buffalo game yesterday, because the Flyers and Penguins are tied in points (71), with Philly holding the tie-breaker advantage because seven of the Pens' win have come via shootout to just one by Philly. The Sabres did the Flyers work for them, downing Pittsburgh, 6-2, one day after the Penguins came to Philly and skated off with a 6-4 win.
Very quietly, however, the New Jersey Devils sneaked up upon -- and have now passed -- the Flyers and Penguins in the standings. With their eighth win in their last 10 games (and third in a row), the Devils are now one point up on both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. All three teams have played 58 games.
Some have opined that the Flyers would be better off finishing the season as a sixth seed and playing the Southeast Division winner in the first round of the playoffs. Florida currently leads preseason favorite Washington by two points, and there is a possibility that the division winner (which will automatically get the third seed) will be the only one that makes the playoffs. Currently, the Caps are one point behind both Toronto and Winnipeg, with games in hand on both teams.
My own belief, however, is that you have to beat whoever is placed in front of your team. I would have a hard time rejoicing about a "more favorable" first round matchup when it comes about as a result of tumbling precipitously from the battle for a top-two seed.
The goal is to be the team that comes out of the East, not to win a single playoff round. That would not be progress from last year. The way the playoffs are shaping up, if the Flyers are a fourth, fifth or sixth seed, there is still a good chance they could run into the Bruins or Rangers (barring an upset) sequentially in the second and third rounds. All that would really be different is which one Philly would have to play first, depending on the seedings.
Besides, there are no guarantees in the first round, anyway. Any team in the Eastern Conference playoffs is capable of beating the Flyers (regardless of playoff round) unless they start getting better goaltending and reducing their ill-timed defensive lapses.
I don't care who the first-round opponent is: the Flyers have the guns and depth to score enough goals to win a seven-game series. But unless they clean up things in their own end of the ice, it may not matter.
On the flip side, when the Flyers bring their A game, I truly believe they have the personnel to at least get to the Eastern Conference Final. The talent gap is NOT as big as some make it out to be. The gap has been in defensive and goaltending consistency.
Philly has upgraded its blueline to better deal with big opposing forwards and to increase its shot-blocking prowess. Speedy attackers could still present a challenge in footraces, but that's a trade-off the Flyers had to make.
The forwards also need to do a much better job defensively -- and that means everyone from Claude Giroux on down has to turn up their focus on aiding the defensemen and goalies. The lip service has been there constantly, but the delivery has been sporadic.
Forwards' lack of attention to defensive detail is NOT "Lavy's system." It stems from players not keeping their feet moving and not bearing down. Guess what: Most of the time, playing that way not show up too well in the GF column, either.
The team's top six forwards have often been equal and sometimes bigger culprits in issues for which the netminders and blueliners have taken all the heat. When the Giroux and Briere lines are clicking, they've got their feet moving and are dogged in their puck pursuit. When they're not, they pile up the defensive minuses and the offensive haul is much more modest as well.
As for the goaltenders, well, the Flyers cannot be afraid to have the puck cross their own blueline. If Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky don't hold up their end of the bargain, it doesn't matter what else the team does. Bad goaltending will drag everything else down with it, just as surely as clutch goaltending uplifts a team and inspires it play that much harder in front of them.
It is not expecting too much to ask for routine saves and the occasional tougher -- but still makeable -- save. No team in the world can play perfect defense. Turnovers will happen. Coverages will break down. Other teams will simply make good plays and create some scoring chances where no one is to "blame." That when the goalies need to carry the load.
Goalies also sometimes need to be the ones who hold their team close or equal when it gets outplayed early in a game. Slow starts have been a problem for the Flyers the last few months, especially at home. That's a team-wide problem that for which everyone needs to take accountability -- Peter Laviolette, the forwards, the defense and the goalies.
The Flyers' horrendous performance and astronomical GAA in
afternoon games this season is no laughing matter. Philadelphia has allowed five or more goals eight times in 15 afternoon games they've played to date (and yielded six regulation goals on five different occasions).
Fortunately, the team only has four afternoon games remaining among their final 24 games. Unfortunately, they come against dangerous opponents: the Bruins (road) and Penguins (home) on March 17 and 18, the Senators (home) on March 31 and the Penguins (road) on April 7.
At any rate, the Flyers have 24 games left to get their issues straightened out. It all starts tomorrow night in Winnipeg, against a Jets team that has given Philly fits the last few seasons.
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