FLYERS FACE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
Seven games into the 2015-16 regular season, the Philadelphia Flyers have already played both of last season's Stanley Cup finalists and three of the four conference finalists. They have run up against four of the NHL's fastest-skating teams -- the aforementioned Tampa Bay Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers plus the Dallas Stars -- and have been able to keep up with the pace and even dictate it for stretches of the games.
Every one of these games has been within the Flyers' grasp to win, although one ended in an overtime loss (two missed penalty shots, including one in OT, loomed large) and another was a 2-1 regulation loss. Even so, the club's 2-1-1 record from those four tilts and 4-2-1 overall mark through seven games is certainly respectable and a welcomed change from the poor starts that have plagued the team in recent years.
Now the Flyers face different challenges the next two weeks. First up is a three-in-four gauntlet of games: home and road meetings with the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday and Friday, sandwiched around a Thursday home game against the New Jersey Devils. After that, the team has four games in six nights across western Canada, playing in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg.
Do not understimate the perils of the next seven games. The Flyers are going to have to stay sharp to keep the pace in the early-season standings. There is no such thing as a guaranteed win in the current-day NHL and, while the Flyers have played well overall thus far, there are numerous areas that can stand to be cleaned up. If that does not happen before the Flyers head out west -- when there won't be much practice opportunity -- things could just as easily get ugly as it could be a point-grabbing feast.
Last season, the Flyers left a lot of points on the table from games against other clubs that missed the playoffs. Even when they won, it was often in sloppy, scrambling fashion. Philly often played to the level of its opposition and, in the second half of the season in particular, frequently fared better against playoff-bound teams than non-playoff clubs.
A season ago, the Flyers went 2-0-1 against a Sabres team on the ground floor of a total-rebuild program. Philly won an ugly 4-3 regulation decision in Buffalo after trailing at the first intermission. The second meeting, also in Buffalo, saw the Flyers dominate early but then having to scratch out a 2-1 regulation decision with Michael Raffl scoring in the latter half of the third period. Buffalo had the better of play in the second period. The final game, in Philadelphia, saw the Sabres skate off with a 3-2 win via shootout.
Yes, Philly took five of six possible points from those games, but they were not confidence-builders. Keep in mind that Buffalo was a very low-scoring team that hemorrhaged goals against most of the NHL last year, and pulled up the rear in the NHL in virtually every team statistical category at the time of their first and second meetings with the Flyers.
On paper, at least, it is probably a good thing that the Flyers will have had two nights off since Saturday's game against the New York Rangers by the time the puck drops on Tuesday's game against Buffalo. The match with the Rangers was one that ran very high on energy and emotion, and it would be very easy to have a letdown game against Buffalo. Having two idle nights and an optional practice on Sunday was like hitting the reset button, which is sometimes every bit as necessary after a couple of rousing wins like the comeback overtime win in Boston on Wednesday and the OT/shootout thriller against the Rangers as it is after suffering a stinging defeat.
Additionally, fatigue in the final game of a three-in-four set should not be a factor in the upcoming meetings with the Sabres. Buffalo is in the same boat as the Flyers, playing a road game in Pittsburgh on Thursday before returning home to host the Flyers. The Sabres, now bolstered by the addition of heralded rookie Jack Eichel and a change behind the bench, could still be a handful despite their 2-6-0 start to the season.
In the middle of the quasi home-and-home meetings with the Sabres, the Flyers host the Devils. Let's be honest: games against New Jersey are rarely fun tilts either for the Flyers' players or the fans even when Philadelphia fans, and the wins for the Flyers against New Jersey have not come in much abundance going all the way back to the 2012 playoffs.
The Devils, off to a 4-3-1 start through eight games, have missed the playoffs each of the last three years. Nevertheless, they've continued to have the Flyers' number. Entering this year's season series, the Devils are 9-2-2 against the Flyers dating back to the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek -- who looked in the Rangers' game to be on the brink of breaking loose offensively despite not recording a point and now has to take the next step -- has often said that while playing a disciplined and patient game for 60 minutes is not fun hockey, being opportunistic and avoiding frustration plays is the only way to beat clubs like New Jersey or the Florida Panthers. This has often proven easier said than done for the Flyers.
It is important for the Flyers to come through this week with as many points as possible before they embark on a brutal road trip across Western Canada next week. While it is good in some way to get the annual trip out of the way in early November rather than the more typical late December scheduling, it would have been preferable to have a little more preparation time between the games. Instead, the Flyers will have four games in six nights, including back-to-back matches in Vancouver next Monday and Edmonton on Tuesday.
Among the Flyers' next seven games and six opponents, only the Winnipeg Jets (currently 5-2-1) are off to a superior start to the season than Philly's. That does not make the upcoming games any less difficult, especially the road games. Despite the Flyers' win in Boston, the jury is still out on whether Philly is a better road team than it was last year.
Bottom line: There is still plenty of work to do and room for improvement before the Flyers can truly be said to be in good shape in the early going of the 2015-16 season.
NEUVIRTH ON IR, LECAVALIER MIGHT PLAY ON TUESDAY
The Flyers had no choice but to put Michal Neuvirth on the injured reserve (IR) list on Saturday when he was not quite ready to back up Steve Mason against the New York Rangers. National Hockey League rules simultaneously require two able-to-play goaltenders on the active roster while also enforcing a 23-man roster limit.
With the Flyers at 23 players, they had to put Neuvirth on IR to free up a space to recall Jason LaBarbera to back up Mason on Saturday. Unfortunately, since a player on IR must be out for a week, that means Neuvirth is ineligible to dress for Tuesday's game against Buffalo despite now being 100 percent (according to his post-practice self-report to the media after Sunday's optional practice).
Teams are allowed to back-date IR designations. In Neuvirth's case, that means to last Thursday. He had to leave Wednesday's game in Boston after the first period, most likely because he had been accidentally clocked in the head by Patrice Bergeron's stick on Boston's second goal. Neuvirth is allowed to practice all week and can be activated for Thursday's game.
With the Flyers playing a three-in-four, the most likely goalie rotation would seem to be going with Mason on Tuesday and Thursday before tabbing ex-Sabre Neuvirth to start in Buffalo on Friday. Neuvirth also figures to get one of the back-to-back games next week. Right now, the logical rotation would be alternating starts, meaning that Mason would get the call in Vancouver and Neuvirth in Edmonton.
Officially, both Sean Couturier and Michael Raffl are day-to-day with upper-body injuries. Their status for Tuesday's game remains to be seen after Monday's practice and Tuesday's morning skate. If both forwards are unable to play against Buffalo, Vincent Lecavalier figures to get in the lineup for the first time this season.
1) The injury-riddled Lehigh Valley Phantoms fell to 2-4-0 on the young season after sustaining a 3-1 setback at home against the Toronto Marlies on Sunday. Taylor Leier's shorthanded goal was the lone tally for the Phantoms. All three Toronto goals were scored in the first period. The Phantoms outshot Toronto 17-11 from the second period onward, but could not draw any closer. Anthony Stolarz stopped 22 of 25 shots overall. Shayne Gostisbehere (minus-two against the Marlies) has just two points -- both assists -- through the first six games. As a team, Lehigh Valley has scored just 18 goals thus far.
2) Streak-scoring Nicolas Aube-Kubel has been in a mini-slump after scoring goals in five straight games and six of seven following his return to the Val-d'Or Foreurs' lineup. The Flyers' 2014 second-round pick has gone without a point in four straight games. He is still averaging over a point-per-game (nine goals, 16 points in 14 games) for the young season. A full prospect update blog is forthcoming next weekend when the Flyers are idle on Saturday and Sunday before starting their western Canada road trip.
3) Speaking of streak scorers, perhaps the ultimate feast-or-famine scorer the Flyers have had in the last quarter century was early-to-mid 1990s Czech winger Josef Beranek, who celebrated his 46th birthday yesterday.
Acquired by the Flyers from the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 13 1993 as part of the trade that sent defenseman Brian Benning to Edmonton, Beranek went on to spend parts of three seasons (1992-93, 1993-94 and a portion of the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign) with the Flyers. Beranek scored goals by the bushel when hot but was also prone to very lengthy droughts. In his first half-season with the Flyers, he notched 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 40 games. In one stretch, he had four goals and six points over a six-game span. The next season, Beranek was one of the NHL's hottest offensive players early in the season. He rattled off a seven-game goal-scoring streak (nine goals, 12 points) after not recording an opening night point. Through his first 14 games of the 1993-94 season, Beranek racked up 11 goals and 20 points. A four-game goal-scoring streak followed soon after that to bring his season totals to 16 goals and 26 points through 20 games. Beranek then went cold for the next month. He heated up again in mid-December, rattling off a streak of goals in four of five games. After Dec. 21, Beranek did not score another goal until March 12, 1994. Beranek did have one more hot spell -- a four-goal in six-game stretch -- immediately upon breaking the drought but finished the year with a relatively modest 28 goals and 49 points in 80 games after lighting up the League for the first quarter of the year. Beranek opened the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season with the Flyers (14 games, five goals, 10 points) but was traded early in the campaign to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for enforcer Shawn Antoski.
On Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., I will be part of the hockey panel at the Puck & Pitch Talks event at Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2nd St.) in Philadelphia. CSN Philly's Sarah Baicker will be the moderator and my fellow panelists will include Al Morganti (WIP & CSN Philly), Dave Isaac (Camden Courier Post) and Adam Kimelman (NHL.com).
Tickets can be purchased at PuckTalksLive.com. Use promo code "Bullies" to get a $5 discount off the $20 ticket price. Further information and updates are available on the Puck Talks Twitter page (@PuckTalksLive) and on Facebook (Facebook.com/Pucktalks).
