Flyers

No Wonder There was a Blizzard in the Area: Thoughts on Flyers 4, Kings 3 (OT)

By Anthony SanFilippo

Published: Jan 30th, 2022 · 12:24 PM EST

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It’s over.

OMFG it’s over.

And it didn’t even require the gimmicky shootout for it to come to an end. It did take overtime, and two blown two-goal leads, but the Flyers won an actual hockey game, 4-3 over the Los Angeles Kings.

The win snapped a franchise record 13-game winless streak. It was the Flyers’ first victory in exactly one month. They still haven’t won in regulation since Dec. 14, but we’re talking baby steps here, friends.

This was a win that was coming. The Flyers continued to play better hockey, something they have now done in eight of the past 10 games, but they just had nothing to show for it as an inevitable collapse occurred with regularity, often late in the third period, that turned a sigh of relief “W” into a ball of frustration “L.”

And that almost happened again Saturday against the Kings, who came from behind twice to force the overtime period.

Scott Laughton finally ended a month’s worth of anxiety and aggravation with the game-winner in a rebound of a Cam Atkinson shot:

*unleashes a month-long exhale* pic.twitter.com/zZx1SAMuNZ

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 29, 2022

Laughton and Atkinson were two of the more noticeable Flyers players in a game where several of them had decided enough was enough. Atkinson had two goals and an assist. Claude Giroux picked up an assist and played really well. It was also another version of Gerald’s Game and Gerry Mayhew scored another goal, extending his 15 minutes in Philadelphia hockey lore just a bit further.

But it was Carter Hart who was the difference maker. Even though the Flyers built leads of 2-0 and 3-1, the Kings were the better team on the ice, and proved it with a late rally in the third period when the Flyers were too passive.

The only difference then between another exasperating loss and the win they finally were able to pull out, was Hart, who finished with 37 saves:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1487503925355892741

Atkinson was on fire early. His first goal was on a set play with Giroux, where Giroux would take a shot on goal from the neutral zone that bounced on goal to Jonathan Quick. As soon as Giroux lets the shot go, Atkinson crashes the net at full speed looking for a rebound. The idea is to catch the defense off guard and turn what at first seems like an innocuous dump-in into a high-leverage scoring chance.

Giroux and Atkinson pulled it off with perfection:

Cam cashes in. 💯#LAKvsPHI | #BringItToBroad pic.twitter.com/J0Mm82sWBE

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 29, 2022

Atkinson would follow with a huge shorthanded goal in the third period. It is his third shorthanded goal of the season, which is tied for third in the NHL behind only Gustav Nyquist of Columbus and Alexander Barkov of Florida, who each have four.

The Flyers as a team now have six shorthanded goals this season, second-best in the league, trailing only the Florida Panthers, who have seven:

Action Atkinson. #LAKvsPHI | #BringItToBroad pic.twitter.com/FfydLexURu

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 29, 2022

So, the franchise-record winless streak is over. And two double-digit game winless streaks in the span of 30 games has also concluded (6-18-6).

Yet, with 38 games still to play in this interminable season, the Flyers (14-22-8, 36 points) are 17 points behind Boston for the final playoff spot and the Bruins have three games in hand.

The Flyers may have won, but their goal differential on the season is minus-41. Only Arizona (-69) and Montreal (-70) are worse.  Even Dave Hakstol’s expansion Seattle Kraken (-39) are better.

There will be no miracle rally for these Flyers.

So, what do we do now? There’s still three months of mostly meaningless hockey to play. I say mostly meaningless because, there’s still an outside chance the Flyers can get themselves into a better position for the draft lottery and have a shot at the first overall draft pick. If the season ended right now, the Flyers would be slated for the seventh pick, barring a lottery win that could vault them into the top three.

I ask again – what do we do now? With no more winless streaks to talk about, and the team playing just one more game in the next 10 days thanks to the All-Star break, there’s not much in the way of storylines for the Flyers fans to focus on.

That’s going to be made even harder as Saturday’s game started a run of 11-of-13 games the Flyers would play at home, and have two one-off road games  – one in Detroit and one in Pittsburgh – in a span of 43 days.

That’s a lot of time at home. A lot of time to practice. A lot of time where the Flyers will be a little more on the local sports conscience than under normal conditions.

So, here is primer, of sorts. A list of things to focus on moving forward as we all attempt to get through the remainder of this godforsaken season:

1. The Trade Deadline – Yeah, it is still seven weeks away, and I admit that within a couple weeks, I’ll probably be tired of talking about this too, but the reality is, the Flyers are likely to move on from at least a handful of pending unrestricted free agents, and possibly even more. In addition, general manager Chuck Fletcher could begin to lay the ground work for off-season trade possibilities involving a player or two under contract. All told we expect Giroux, Martin Jones, Justin Braun, Derick Brassard, Keith Yandle and Nate Thompson (if deemed healthy) to be traded, with Rasmus Ristolainen a last-minute decision on either signing here on a longer-term deal or being traded at the deadline, much in the way the Flyers handled Scott Laughton a season ago. As for those guys who could be traded in the offseason, especially around draft time, look to start hearing rumors about Travis Konecny and then either Ivan Provorov or Travis Sanheim.
2. Adieu to Giroux – With each passing game, Flyers fans are getting closer to the end of an era with a franchise icon. Giroux will waive his no trade clause. He will pursue a Stanley Cup elsewhere. And very likely, in the off season when he is looking to sign a free agent contract, while the Flyers name will certainly come up, it’ll be unlikely that he re-signs here. When he gets traded is a huge debate. Some think it would be better to do it now. Just cut bait, set a deadline, and create a bidding war among interested teams. And while that sounds good in theory, in reality, it doesn’t work. Teams aren’t desperate enough yet. Some teams aren’t sure if they’re willing to make such a commitment yet. There are financial implications too as getting Giroux’s contract to fit under the cap is going to be a challenge for almost every team. I think it’ll be much closer to the deadline. I originally said on Snow the Goalie that you could start to think about it in late February, but the more I think about Giroux, and what’s important to him, I think he really wants to play 1,000 games as a Flyer. It’s not quite a “rare” occurrence in the NHL these days, but it still doesn’t happen a lot. Giroux is looking to be just the 10th active player to play 1,000 games with the same team joining Dustin Brown (Los Angeles), Alexander Ovechkin (Washington), Patrice Bergeron (Boston), Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh), Patrick Kane (Chicago) and Nicklas Backstrom (Washington). To reach that mark, Giroux would have to play until St. Patrick’s Day with the Flyers, which is four days prior to the deadline.
3. Prove it – There are players who are going to get a chance to play the rest of the season who will have an opportunity to show they belong at the NHL level. No one is getting a bigger chance, or one that will be more scrutinized, that Morgan Frost. Frost has long been considered the Flyers best forward prospect, but there are some within the organization who aren’t sure he will ever meet expectations and suggest moving on from him. The Flyers want to see more before they make a final call on Frost, and that’s the rest of this season. He can either win a spot on this roster as part of the core going forward, or he can punch his ticket out of town. These will be an important few moths for him. On a smaller scale, the Flyers will monitor the growth of defenseman Cam York, and if he can remain healthy after the All-Star break, forward Wade Allison. Other players will be given a chance to stick as back of the lineup or depth players for the future, like Max Willman, Gerry Mayhew, Zach MacEwen, Patrick Brown, Isaac Ratcliffe, Jackson Cates, Connor Bunnaman and Linus Sandin. Once Jones is traded, Felix Sandstrom and Kirill Ustimenko could get a chance to prove they can backup Carter Hart as soon as next season. Egor Zamula may get another chance later this season as well, although the Flyers aren’t convinced he’s physically ready.
4. Another 10-game winless streak – Don’t laugh, but this is a possibility. The Flyers schedule has stretches that are brutal, playing tough team after tough team. Then, after the deadline, the Flyers could be even more depleted as they subtract NHL caliber players. If guys like Sean couturier, Ryan Ellis and Kevin Hayes are shut down for the season to prevent recurring injuries and to get them 100 percent for 2022-23, then the Flyers will barely have an NHL-caliber team on the ice most nights. They start a five-game road trip immediately after the deadline, It begins in Detroit and then they face four Western Conference Cup contenders (St. Louis, Colorado, Nashville, Minnesota) before coming home to play Toronto and then heading to New York to play the Rangers. Can you see that being seven straight? I sure can. They play the Islanders at home just before that trip and then a home-and-home with Columbus on the back end. I’m just saying, this isn’t outside the realm of possibility, and if it happens, it’ll only be the seventh time ever and first since 1997-98 and first since the elimination of ties.
5. Empty Stadium – How bad can it get for Flyers fans? Will they continue to stay away? Or will they at least come out and still support the team despite the groundswell of anger with the franchise and how it’s being run? The Flyers did a nice thing Saturday and gave all fans who trudged through the snowstorm to attend the game seats in the lower level. It definitely made the building look more full on TV, although it was widely reported that the entire upper level was closed, but it was a nice gesture for fan loyalty. It’s those little things that go a long way to engender fan loyalty and support even when things are bad on the ice. Can the Flyers business folks come up with enough of those promotional type deals to keep butts in seats? Or will these historically low drop counts (Saturday not included because of the weather) continue to happen and make a fan renaissance all the more challenging?
6. Off-ice changes – These might be the most fascinating stories to track with the Flyers in 2022 beyond just the next three months. There’s obviously going to be a coaching change. Dave Scott basically announced it at the press conference last Wednesday. So, Mike Yeo and his staff are basically lame ducks for the rest of this season. That has to suck for them. Who the new coach will be remains to be seen. There’s rumblings that some in the organization want to pursue John Tortorella, but that Chuck Fletcher might not be too keen on that idea. The public has been calling for Rick Tocchet, but the industry belief is Tocchet isn’t a great head coach, but a better assistant. Others want a recognizable name like Mark Recchi, who is currently an assistant with New Jersey. Fletcher still favors Jim Montgomery, a former Flyer (he who coined the nickname Legion of Doom for his teammates), who is currently an assistant with St. Louis and had brief success as a head coach in Dallas before being fired and having to enter a rehab program. He has been sober for well over a year now. Fletcher also has a good relationship with Mike Babcock, who has been successful at every stint, but was forced out in Toronto amidst rumors of verbally and mentally abusing his players. Finally, as I threw out there at the end of the last episode of Snow the Goalie, keep an eye on St. Louis and if they choose to re-sign Craig Berube. Word is Berube wants more than the Blues are willing to pay and may walk away at season’s end, when his contract expires. It’s not just coaching though to watch. Where does Danny Briere fit in? After almost getting the job as GM in Montreal, the Flyers realized they have a management up-and-comer in Briere and have all but said he’ll have a new role here later this season. Might the Flyers also try to create a situation similar to the Penguins where there’s both a GM and a President of Hockey Operations who have say in personnel decisions? Might there be more changes on the business side to try and bring fans back? There’s a lot of conversation and speculation out there. And these stories will all be worth following over the next three months and beyond.

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