The Flyers are riding high on the back of a big win over the Blackhawks yesterday afternoon. After all, what more of a kind of statement win do you need to see than in Matvei Michkov punching in an overtime winning goal against Chicago and their first-overall pick from his draft in Connor Bedard (who they managed to hold off the scoresheet entirely)?
It was a big win for the Flyers, but it was also a hard-fought one. The Flyers came out and played well right from the jump, had the better of the play, really, something their head coach was adamant about after the game. “I don’t think we had our early struggles,” John Tortorella told the assembled media group when asked about their start. “I thought we had a good start. You’re looking at the scoreboard. I thought we had chances.”
But the story of the scoreboard was a tough one, for a while there — despite having the better of the chances, the Flyers found themselves in a two-goal hole heading into the third period, and no real indication of when or if their luck would shift in this game. In the end, through sticking with it and resisting frustration, the Flyers were able to convert on a pair of chances, which was enough to get them to overtime, when Michkov could work his magic. It likely wasn’t the game plan they envisioned, but it got the job done.
At the same time, when it comes to that vision, the Flyers aren’t kidding themselves. Did they probably think that they would have been able to convert on one of the many good chances they created at least a little bit earlier in that game? Sure. But if there was any frustration anticipated because of some assumption that the Blackhawks are a team that they should be beating up on, Tortorella made clear that there’s no room for anything like that.
“We have no business looking by anybody,” he added. “Who the hell are we to be looking by anybody? We’re in it with Chicago. We’re in the same mess that they’re in – in trying to find traction in this league and that is how we have to approach each and every game.”
The Flyers might have some real flash in their lineup — and for the first time in a long time, another legitimate game-breaker — and this might be enough to bring them some exciting looks and bursts of positive results, but it hasn’t changed the fundamental reality of the situation they’re in. As it stands, the Flyers are still sitting second from last in their division standings (11th from the bottom in the overall league standings) and just four points up on these same Blackhawks. Things might be trending in the right direction, but the Flyers are still very much in the murky middle of their rebuild, and sitting with a lot of ground left to cover.
They’re not in a position where they’re able to get lofty about their game, their position in the mix of things. The Flyers, as always, have been quick to remind us of how long this season is and how much work they have left to do. Taking care of business against the teams in the same position as them is an important first step, but the marathon is long, all the same.
