QUICK HITS: FEB. 28, 2018
1) After taking a complete off-day on Tuesday, the Flyers return to practice on Wednesday in preparation for Thursday's game at the Wells Fargo Center against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game will begin a very busy and difficult stretch of games after a relatively light schedule in March; one that the Flyers capitalized on to the tune of a 10-1-2 record for the month.
Starting on Thursday night, the Flyers begin a three-in-four set of home-road-road games: home against the Hurricanes on Thursday, and then on the road on Saturday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Sunday against the surging Florida Panthers.
After two nights off, the Flyers host the Penguins in a nationally televised Wednesday Night Rivalry match and then follow it up the next night by visiting the Boston Bruins. On Saturday, the Flyers host the Winnipeg Jets. Two nights later, the Vegas Golden Knights pay a visit to the Wells Fargo Center.
With 19 games remaining, the Flyers would need 22 points (a record of 11-7-0, 10-5-2, 9-5-4, etc) to secure a 100-point season for the first time since 2011-12. Would that be enough to win the Metro? For the balance of the stretch drive, the Flyers would greatly help their own cause come playoff time if they manage to finish first in the Metro Division and play the higher wildcard seed in the opening round. That would keep the Flyers away from both Pittsburgh and Washington in the first round -- the Caps and Pens would have to play each other right off the bat.
2) The Flyers got mixed news on the out-of-town scoreboard on Wednesday night. The Washington Capitals re-took first place in the Metro Division by one point (along with a 33-32 ROW tiebreaker edge) over the Flyers with a 3-2 win against Ottawa. The Pittsburgh Penguins remained two points behind the Flyers (but still holding a 34-32 ROW tiebreaker edge) with a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Philly holds one game in hand on the Capitals and Penguins. Pittsburgh visits the Boston Bruins on Thursday, while the Caps are idle until hosting Toronto on Saturday.
In terms of the wildcard teams, the Flyers hold a four-point lead (plus a 32-29 ROW edge) on upper wildcard seeded New Jersey. Philly has a nine-point lead (and 32-26 ROW advantage) on the lower wildcard seeded Columbus Blue Jackets. The Devils visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday, while Columbus is on the road against the LA Kings.
In the meantime, the cushion between the teams in playoff position and those below the wildcard cutoff has gotten more and more substantial.
The Islanders (in road action against Montreal on Wednesday) are four points behind Columbus and 13 points (with a 32-26 ROW disadvantage) behind the Flyers. The Hurricanes picked up one point on Tuesday but remain four points in back of Columbus and 13 behind the Flyers (with a 32-24 ROW disadvantage).
3) Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost returns to action on Wednesday night as his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (49-6-4) are on the road to take on the Saginaw Spirit (27-24-8) in the lone game on the Ontario Hockey League schedule. Frost needs two points to hit 100 points on the season and re-take a share of the OHL scoring lead, which was reclaimed over the weekend by Sarnia's Jordan Kyrou on the strength of a seven-point explosion on Saturday night. Frost trails the Barrie Colts' red-hot Aaron Luchuk by one point and Kyrou by two. Overall, Frost has 37 goals (5th in OHL), 61 assists (2nd in OHL), 98 points (3rd in OHL) and a +60 rating (by far tops in the OHL, with Greyhounds linemate Boris Katchouk second at +44).
4) Feb. 28 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Eric Lindros (1973), Ryan McGill (1969), Andreas Nödl (1987) and Dan Lucas (1958).
5) In the next few days, there will be an announcement from the Flyers Alumni regarding the upcoming Flyers Charity Classic on July 15.