With the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to the Senators collected last night, their losing streak was extended to five games, tying them for their second longest of the season, and marking their fourth in a row in which they’ve failed to score more than two goals. All of this considered, it feels a bit strange to note that last night’s game was the first in which they really felt like they were getting things moving in the right direction again, but there’s some real truth there.
It’s easy to say that there’s no such thing as moral victories in this sport, but there are, and with the Flyers all but officially out of the playoff race, these are the ones which are becoming more and more important to them. The Flyers have played some truly brutal and uninspired hockey over the past week, and it’s been critical for them to find a way to right the ship, if not for the standings implications, but for their own morale. Last night felt like a step in the right direction — the pace was there, and the Flyers looked the most cohesive in their passing as they have in a little while here. John Tortorella would agree. “Past couple of games have been better,” he said after the game. “A couple of games ago, we were lethargic. But the past couple, I think we’ve done the things we need to do. Trying to find a way to finish more often. We don’t score enough goals. I thought [Fedotov] gave us an opportunity,” and while his play wasn’t perfect either, he did well enough with the support he was given.
So the Flyers are beginning to see their process be revived, and the hope is that their luck will soon begin to shift, in turn. This is a point Tortorella really sought to drive home — “We’ve got to make them break our way. Again, held them to 15 scoring chances tonight. I think we had 18 or 19. Bang in a rebound, something’s got to go off us. [Couturier] has a great chance on a great stick
by [Sanheim] to start it. We’ve got to dig out of the hole. We’re the ones that have to get through some of this and try to regain some of our confidence step by step. Had some good minutes, had some bad minutes.” That is, they’re doing better at getting more and better looks, but they need the bounces to start going their way too, because they don’t seem to be getting a single one to go in their favor right now. Their confidence is building, but it will build even more if some of their snakebitten players can actually convert on some of these chances, and really get going again.
“All we can do is work at it,” he concluded. “Keep on working at other parts of our game. The one part of our game that we have to stay constant is our checking because we’re not balanced through our lineup. It is a different lineup. I think the past couple of games, we’ve turned it into a low event game. We have to play that way right now, and hopefully get some guys banging a couple goals in.”
For the Flyers, the answers are in the room with them. They have to be. Their group for these last 16 games is what it is, and they aren’t going to be getting much coming in the way of reinforcements. A bit of luck would certainly help them, but even more critical is the players continuing to find ways to keep their energy up and keep pulling in the same direction. It’s all on them now.
