Going into this season, not much was expected of the Philadelphia Flyers.
This is a team that has missed the playoffs for three straight seasons, is very young, has a new front office, and is still figuring out its identity. In other words, there was still a lot of work to be done before the team was considered to have a chance of making the playoffs.
Do not look now, but it appears that things are happening sooner than expected in Philly. The Flyers are second in the Metropolitan Division at 15-10-2 for 32 points. Believe it or not, that point total also has them at 12th in the league.
There are several reasons why the Flyers, winners of four straight going into their matchup with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, December 12th, are off to a solid start. For starters, they are one of the toughest teams in the league to play against.
The Flyers fight for every puck, block a lot of shots, do not give up in games, know how to play comeback hockey, and they always leave everything out on the ice.
This is partly due to their head coach, John Tortorella. Tortorella’s teams have always been hard to play against, so the fact that the Flyers have been difficult to face this season should not come as a surprise to anyone in the hockey world.
Another reason why the Flyers are playing so well is because they are doing a great job of keeping the puck out of the net. The team is currently 10th in the league in goals allowed, as they have given up 73 goals in 27 games.
It starts with the play of goaltender Carter Hart. Hart, 25, is currently 9-6-0-1 with a 2.42 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, and one shutout.
If you are a hockey fan, then you know the Flyers are a graveyard when it comes to goaltenders. Hart is certainly doing everything he can to avoid being buried.
The team is also getting balanced scoring this season. Leading the way for this club is Travis Konecny as he currently has 23 points on 16 goals and seven assists.
Right behind Konecny are players like Travis Sanheim (20 points), Sean Couturier (19 points), Joel Farabee (17 points), Owen Tippett (17 points), and Cam Atkinson (15 points). The Flyers have a decent number of guys that can put up a solid number of points in a given season, and right now, they are doing just that.
Lastly, a lot of credit has to go to President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones and General Manager Daniel Briere. They have come in and built this club the right way, which will be important for this franchise going forward.
There is still a lot of hockey left to be played, but there is a lot to like when it comes to the Flyers. It will be interesting to see how the rest of their season unfolds.
ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing – Inside The Rink
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