January has been a whirlwind month for the Flyers. Although there is still one game left (at home next Tuesday against Winnipeg) before the calendar flips to February, the All-Star break is a good time to take stock of the highs and lows of the month to date.
10 positive signs
1. The Flyers showed tremendous character and resiliency in putting aside the disappointment of losing in the Winter Classic to down the Chicago Blackhawks in one of the best-played and most exciting games in the NHL this season.
2. The team battled through injuries and deficits of 1-0, 3-1 and 5-4 in a war of a tie game against the Bruins. Philly did not get the bonus point from the post-game skills competition, but the club's effort was commendable.
3. Sean Couturier ran off a five-game goal-scoring streak and six-game point streak. So much for hitting the "rookie wall" at midseason.
4. Scott Hartnell scored an electrifying natural hat trick in the Boston game, and five goals in a two-game span. The Flyers also got a hat trick from Danny Briere in the front end of their home-and-home split with the Senators.
5. Sergei Bobrovsky rebounded from a third period letdown in the Winter Classic to steal a couple games for the club. His performance in a 4-1 loss to the Islanders may actually have been the team's best goaltending performance of the season. Bob stopped a penalty shot, thwarted several breakaways, 2-on-1s and wide open chances from slot. He had little to no chance on any of the three goals that got past him in that game.
6. All-Star defenseman Kimmo Timonen once again showed his amazing pain tolerance and focus in battling through a hand injury to keep his consecutive game streak going and, more importantly, playing well in the process.
7. Brayden Schenn finally got in a full uninterrupted month in the lineup, and tallied his first three goals and two assists in the NHL. His best game was one where he was held off the scoresheet, however. Schenn was a force in the match against the Bruins.
8. Injuries forced the Flyers to use eight rookies in the starting lineup in the final two games before the All-Star break. Nevertheless, the team finished up with five of six possible points in three games against Eastern Conference teams in playoff position.
9. Wayne Simmonds has quietly come on offensively of late, registering eight points (3G, 5A) in the last eight games.
10. Struggles in early-to-mid January have been the norm for Claude Giroux in his career to date. He is not scoring goals right now, and he endured a defensive slump. However, he went into the All-Star break by racking up five assists during the back-to-back games over the weekend and scored the team's lone shootout goals in the Boston and Florida games. He also ran off a streak of eight consecutive games in which he went 50 percent or better in the faceoff circle.
10 troublesome signs
1. The Flyers blew third period leads with distressing regularity, including three times in four games from the Winter Classic to their loss in the back half of the home-and-home with Ottawa.
2. The team indefinitely lost James van Riemsdyk and Danny Briere to concussions, while Jaromir Jagr sustained his third and fourth groin pulls of the half-season.
3. Even when he returned to the lineup following the Winter Classic injury, Jagr skated at half speed for several games. He finally seemed to get back to full strength in a loss in Nashville and a home win against Minnesota, but promptly reinjured himself in the first period of the game in New Jersey. If you discount the four games that he's left early due to injuries, Jagr has 34 points in 36 games. Jagr clearly is still an effective NHL player when healthy, but will he be reasonably healthy in the second half?
4. Giroux has been passing up open shots as he has endured an 11-game goal-scoring drought (shootout goals don't count in the stats) that extends back to his nifty goal in the Winter Classic. He also went through a stretch of about five games where he scuffled terribly in the defensive zone. It looks like the ship is being righted, but this cannot happen to Giroux in the playoffs or the Flyers won't be around too long come springtime.
5. Ilya Bryzgalov had a very inconsistent month. There were games (Chicago, Carolina and New Jersey) where he generally played at a high level, and there were others where he was fighting the puck and making himself look small in his net. No player on the team needs the All-Star break to regroup as much as Bryz.
6. Good/mediocre goaltending and good/mediocre team defense have a symbiotic relationship. The Flyers' defense has been mighty inconsistent -- from game-to-game and from period to period -- in its own right this month.
7. Despite gaining points in seven of their last 10 games (6-3-1), the Flyers actually lost ground (1 PT) to the Rangers over that span. They were four points behind New York after losing the Winter Classic and are now three back, but the Rangers (7-3-0 in their last 10 GP) still have a game in hand. It's going to be important for the Flyers to start beating the Blueshirts head-to-head. In early February, there are two games within a week against the Rangers on Feb. 5 (road) and Feb. 11 (home).
8. A huge part of the reason why the Flyers' record on the road has been much better than their home record has been the penalty kill. On the road, the Flyers have killed penalties at a healthy 85.3 percent clip. At home, however, Philly ranks 26th in the NHL with an unacceptable 78.0 percent success rate in killing penalties.
9. If not for the play of Sergei Bobrovsky, the Flyers would be 0-3 against the Islanders this season instead of 2-1. With three games left to play this season against the Isles, the Flyers had better start taking matches against the Islanders seriously.
10. Although the Flyers took five of six points in their final three games before the break, the team fell behind early in the Boston and Florida games. The Bruins scored the game's first goal just 50 seconds after the opening faceoff, while Florida got on the board just 2:49 into the opening stanza. It is playing with fire to chase games almost from the get-go.
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