As the Flyers are now the middle of a nice five day rest before their Friday match-up in Florida against the Panthers there’s already plenty to shake your head about.
First the good news: We’re only five games in, and the team is tied for second in the NHL in points. The orange and black, as well as the Colorado Avalanche, have 7 points with a record of 3-1-1 while the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and Calgary Flames all have 8 points with records of 4-1-0.
Then the bad news: The Flyers destroyed two playoff teams early (New Jersey and Carolina) but have been less than spectacular in the last week. Blunders by some of the defenders, especially Braydon Coburn, nearly cost the team a home win against the Washington Capitals and allowed the Penguins to leave town with a 5-4 victory. The team was less than spectacular blowing a 3rd period 2-goal-lead against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday which resulted in a shootout loss. While the team has outplayed their opponents significantly so far this season, many of the mental lapses that have come back to haunt the Flyers in previous years are once again on display.
So what happens now?
Well, the Flyers get a nice long break to rethink their strategy for the remainder of the month. They’re off to Florida for a while to have a team bonding camp as they have had the last two seasons. This time they will be fishing and sailing. It sounds like fun, but Stevens has promised us that hockey will be on their minds for the entire time. Nobody really knows what he has planned, but let’s hope it magically creates some focus to guard against the mental mistakes. Having a number of players miraculously get better at faceoffs wouldn’t hurt either.
Florida isn’t necessarily an easy game, but after their losses from this past offseason, the Panthers are not nearly as deadly as they were down the stretch of the 2008-09 season.
After this Friday’s game the team has another 5 days to get ready for a welcoming party for the Boston Bruins. Hopefully this long stretch will be used to fix up some of the focus issues since the schedule doesn’t get much easier for a while:
- Saturday, October 10th: ANA (3) – PHI (2) SO
- 5 days off
- Friday, October 16th: PHI @ FLA – 7:30
- 5 days off
- Thursday, October 22nd: BOS @ PHI – 7:00
- 1 day off
- Saturday, October 24th: FLA @ PHI – 7:00
- Sunday, October 25th: SJS @ PHI – 7:00
- 1 day off
- Tuesday, October 27th: PHI @ WSH – 7:00
- 3 days off
- Saturday, October 31st: CAR @ PHI – 1:00
Some stats after the first 5 games:
- The Flyers are tied for 2nd in goals scored in the NHL with 19. (Tied with Calgary and behind Washington and San Jose)
- Mike Richards leads the NHL in goals scored with 6.
- Matt Carle leads the NHL in points by a defenseman with 8 and assists by a defenseman with 7.
- Richards (8), Carter (8), Carle (8), Pronger (5), and Timonen (5) are all averaging a point-per-game or better.
OTHER NEWS
Hartnell has not be punished by the league for allegedly biting Kris Letang when the Penguins came to town on Thursday: TheHockeyWriters.com – Hartnell “bites” Letang: the Flyers are goons!
Van Riemsdyk has been skating again and is expected to play next Friday against the Florida Panthers: Philly.com – Van Riemsdyk returns to practice
Betts is ahead of schedule right now after his shoulder dislocation. He’s gunning for a return to the lineup against the Bruins in less than 2 weeks: CSNPhilly.com – Van Riemsdyk Expects to Return; Betts Improving
STAT SHEET
- Mike Richards: 5 GP – 6 G – 2 A – 8 P – EV
- Jeff Carter: 5 GP – 4 G – 4 A – 8 P – EV
- Matt Carle: 5 GP – 1 G – 7 A – 8 P – PL 4
- Chris Pronger: 5 GP – 1 G – 4 A – 5 P – PL 3
- Kimmo Timonen: 5 GP – 1 G – 4 A – 5 P – MN 2
- Danny Briere: 5 GP – 3 G – 1 A – 4 P – MN 2
- Simon Gagne: 5 GP – 0 G – 3 A – 3 P – PL 3
- Scott Hartnell: 5 GP – 1 G – 2 A – 3 P – MN 1
- James van Riemsdyk: 3 GP – 0 G – 3 A – 3 P – PL 1
- Braydon Coburn: 5 GP – 0 G – 2 A – 2 P – MN 3
- Claude Giroux: 5 GP – 0 G – 2 A – 2 P – PL 2
- Ian Laperriere: 5 GP – 1 G – 0 A – 1 P – MN 2
- Ryan Parent: 5 GP – 0 G – 1 A – 1 P – MN 2
- Darroll Powe: 5 GP – 1 G – 0 A – 1 P – MN 2
- Blair Betts: 3 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – EV
- Arron Asham: 2 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – MN 1
- Riley Cote: 2 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – EV
- Ole-Kristian Tollefsen: 2 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – MN 1
- Daniel Carcillo: 5 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – MN 1
- Danny Syvret: 3 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – MN 1
- Mika Pyorala: 5 GP – 0 G – 0 A – 0 P – PL 1
The Philadelphia Flyers were out to support the Eagles on Sunday against Tampa Bay. (Flyers Photos)
