NEW YORK — Throughout the course of the last two weeks, as the Philadelphia Flyers were playing one legitimate Stanley Cup contender after another, no one seemed to want to speak about the schedule as a whole. Such is the nature of athletes and that “one game at a time” cliche they often fall back upon.
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But after Tuesday’s game at Madison Square Garden — a 6-5 overtime loss by the Flyers to the New York Rangers in which the teams combined for eight goals after the second intermission — assistant coach Brad Shaw did admit that the coaching staff discussed with the players the seven-game slate before it began. It was a stretch that included two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, two against the Boston Bruins, and one each against the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers and, finally, the Rangers — all teams that could conceivably go on deep playoff runs.
“We identified it before we played the seven games, and what it was going to mean, the test sort of standing in front of us,” Shaw said.
Said Scott Laughton: “I think we knew this was coming up on the schedule and what we were facing. Handled it pretty well, I thought.”
The Flyers finished 2-3-2 over what coach John Tortorella labeled a “gauntlet” on Tuesday morning, gathering six of a possible 14 points. It could have been better. It could have been worse. They still sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division, although they’re just 1 point ahead of the surging Washington Capitals, who have two games in hand.
They also left valuable points on the table, including on Tuesday, as they led 2-0 in the second period before the Rangers got a power-play goal late in the frame followed by two quick scores to start the third. The Flyers, to their credit, erased one-goal deficits three separate times in the third to force overtime, but then they never had the possession of the puck in the extra session before Adam Fox zipped a shot past Samuel Ersson just 36 seconds in.
“Going into the third there with the lead, it felt pretty comfortable,” Laughton said. “They get a couple quick ones. Kind of been the story all year — we come back, get a couple goals to tie it, and they get one in overtime. I liked the game for the most part. … We need to pick up some points here. We got 1, but I thought we were in control of it and should have got 2.”
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Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of their game Tuesday was that the Flyers showed they could go punch-for-punch with one of the better offensive teams in the league. It seems they’ve found line combinations that are meshing, including a top line of Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost, which has been explosive in the five straight games they’ve been together, combining for 13 even-strength points over that span.
Konecny’s score on a two-on-one rush at 6:45 of the third period tied the game at 3-3, while Tippett’s breakaway set up by a lofty saucer pass in the defensive zone from Frost at 11:45 made it a 4-4 game.
Owen Tippett sneaks in behind the Rangers defenders and converts the breakaway, tying it up once more!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/hRavYBa3dF
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 27, 2024
In the last five games, the line at five-on-five has outscored the opposition 5-2, while controlling 55 percent of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. The full-season stats are even better: The trio has been on the ice for 15 goals at five-on-five and just three against in 111 minutes while controlling 59.0 percent of the expected goals.
Seems like a group that the coaching staff should probably keep together.
“They sure can click and do some pretty special things at times offensively,” Shaw said. “They’re a trio to be reckoned with. I’m sure teams are circling them on the board and saying ‘Hey, you’ve got to be aware when these guys are on the ice because they’re coming, and they’ve got the skill to put it in the net.'”
Tippett, who is four goals away from his first career 30-goal season, said: “I think this is the longest we’ve played together consistently. I think we’re starting to read off each other well and build that chemistry. I think the first period tonight we had some extended zone time, and that’s just knowing where we’re going to be and being able to read off guys.”
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The other lines contributed, too. Laughton opened the scoring with a bar-down wrist shot in the second period, his third goal in the last five games, while Tyson Foerster’s 19th goal with 3:31 to go in regulation ultimately forced overtime.
“You see Tipper and TK, Frosty, those guys making plays, getting breakaways, two-on-ones. We created enough for sure, I thought, just didn’t put the last one in like we needed,” Laughton said. “Guys are battling for each other. You see it on the bench, you see it in the room. Guys are pulling on the same string here. That’s key at this time.”
The risk, though, of putting so much emphasis on a stretch of games against top teams is that there exists the possibility for a letdown against a lesser team. And, that’s mostly who the Flyers will play over the course of the final three weeks of the season, including Thursday in Montreal and Saturday at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Remember Tortorella’s quote after the Stadium Series loss to the New Jersey Devils in February that the next game on their schedule — later that week in Chicago — “scared the s—” out of him because he feared a drop in intensity after playing under the lights at MetLife Stadium? That’s something he’ll have to protect against over the next little while, too, perhaps until the Flyers play their second and final game of the season in New York on April 11. None of the Flyers’ next six games is against a team currently in playoff position.
“It’s hard. We have to respect every team we’re playing,” Shaw said. “Once you do that you tend to buy into how we have to play, the disciplined puck management-type game that has given us a ton of success lately against really good opponents. That works against everybody. We have to realize that and stick to that game plan as often as we can.”
Still, the Flyers are through the hardest part of their schedule. They know they can give top teams fits when they’re on their game. In a season that is still primarily about growing as a group, what they just went through could pay dividends in the playoffs — if they can manage to get in.
“Obviously when you play teams like that back-to-back you can kind of look at it like it’s a good time for it because it’s ramping up for playoffs,” Tippett said. “You see where you kind of stack up. I think we’ve got a confident group, and we just have to continue to work away here.”
(Photo: Jared Silber / NHLI via Getty Images)
