There’s not much more to say about the Flyers right now. This season has turned from one of promise, to one of disgust, to one of just dumb luck.

And all along the way, the Flyers have found new ways to lose.

Like Saturday, when starting goalie Carter Hart apparently tweaked an injury while warming up in the locker room area, forcing the Flyers to have to start Alex Lyon on 90 minutes notice and have Brian Elliott, who was going through a hard morning practice over at Skate Zone in Voorhees knowing he wasn’t playing until Sunday, to stop practice, pack up his gear, hop in the car and drive over the bridge so he could serve as the backup for the game.

Those things don’t happen to winning teams.

Lyon did the best he could, but he’s no match for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington offense, as they knocked off the Flyers 6-3.

Then Sunday, the Flyers played great team defense for two periods, and when it started to wilt in the third period, Elliott was sensational. 15 of his 27 saves were in the third period and overtime. But on the other end of the ice, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin was even better, turning aside all 30 Flyers shots he faced.

Then, in OT, Kevin Hayes made a bad pass that allowed the Islanders to break out 2-on-1 and a pass from Nick Leddy trying to hit Jordan Eberle on the far side of the net, deflected off defenseman Travis Sanheim’s stick and redirected under Elliott for the only goal in a 1-0 loss to the Isles.

The Flyers are nine points out of a playoff spot with 11 games to go. A reminder, they aren’t making it, I just list this sentence every story for those of you who are ride or die with this team and getting ready to take that Thelma and Louise plunge.

Their tragic number is 13. That means any combination of points earned by Boston or lost by the Flyers subtracts from that number. When it hits zero, they are officially eliminated. Won’t be long now.

As usual, the Flyers were tired. We’ve heard this excuse continually during their grueling schedule that was condensed enough to begin with and then only got more squeezed by a COVID-19 outbreak in February that forced the team to shut down operations for the better part of two weeks.

And while their schedule has required hockey to be played at a frequency never before seen, they aren’t alone. Colorado has gone through not one, but two COVID-19 shut downs, and they have the best record in hockey. Boston had a significant pause and they are still in a playoff spot.

Yet, we are reminded constantly at just how difficult it is to do what the Flyers have been doing this season.

Here’s coach Alain Vigneault after the Islanders game:

“We are running on fumes right now. So, we need to reenergize here. For the first time in a long time, we’re going to have 3 days in between games. That is going to be beneficial for us. Then after that what you have to do is you have to stay in the present. There is still 11 games right now to be played. You got to play one game at a time and focus on that. That’s what we’re going to try to do. Stay in the present and do our jobs.”

There it is. The killer schedule. Here you go AV, this is for you and your tired team. Play it in the Workout room. Let it pipe through the Skate Zone speaker system during practice. Maybe it’ll help:

Also, this is something that Russ and I are going to tackle on this week’s episode of Snow the Goalie, but what the hell has happened to Kevin Hayes this season?

Last season he was an absolute hit. He played hard. He skated hard. He had fun on the ice. He brought the locker room together. He was worth every penny the Flyers paid him last season.

And now, it’s almost like he did a 180 and hasn’t been worth the contract he was signed to prior to last season.

There’s five more years left on that contract at $7.125 million per season of a cap hit. He also has a no movement clause, but it does expire. What should be Hayes’ future?  Russ and I will discuss for sure.

There were a few good things from the weekend:

  • I really like Wade Allison’s game. It simply translates well to the NHL. He’s got a high motor. He’s got a great shot – which we haven’t had the chance to see yet, but even more impressive is his willingness to get to the net and whack at pucks knowing he’s going to likely take a beating while there. In the game against the Islanders, there was one play where Sorokin covered up a loose puck in the crease and both Allison and Joel Farabee were wildly whacking at it until they heard a whistle. Allison was taken down to his knees and eventually his stomach and was still swinging at it. He also scored his first NHL goal against Washington from, guess where? Yep, right in front of the net. He’s going to be a fun player for this team for some time.
  • Travis Sanheim had one of his best games in a long time against the Islanders. He was very active, both offensively and defensively. As much as the defense has regressed this year – and this is going to be faint praise – but I think Sanheim has regressed the least. I actually feel like he’s played batter away from Phil Myers than when he’s played with him.  And frankly, since being paired with Robert Hagg, the duo have played well. That’s not to say that’s a long-term pairing answer, but it shows that if you put a defensive-minded defenseman with Sanheim who can stay in the lineup and not make boneheaded plays, then Sanheim can play at a higher level.
  • The reception for Oskar Lindblom Sunday was awesome. The video tribute. The standing ovation. The solo warmup lap for Lindblom. The entire team wearing his jersey in warmups. It was pretty darn cool. Russ has more on this, but this one, the Flyers absolutely got right. Just an awesome experience on Hockey Fights Cancer night in front of a national audience.

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