The Philadelphia Flyers have officially moved into the Stanley Cup conversation. The Flyers have won nine games in a row, with their latest being a 3-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. They are currently tied with the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan division, which they have never won; they won the Atlantic in 2010-11.
With these nine straight victories, it’s hard to find any weaknesses in this Flyers team. Their roster is bursting at the seams with young talent with players like All-Star Travis Konecny (22) and goalie sensation Carter Hart (21). These young stars are kept in line by their experienced vets, captain Claude Giroux (32), and alternate captain Jakub Voracek (30).
Head coach Alain Vigneault is making a strong case for the Jack Adams award. He turned a team that missed the postseason last year into a team that currently has the best chance of hoisting the cup in June. The question that remains, how have the Flyers gotten to this point?
The biggest strength of this Flyers team is their home-ice advantage. They’re 25-5-4 at home and they can thank Carter Hart for that. Hart is 20-2-2 at home with a GAA of 1.61 and a save percentage of .944. He has been nothing short of sensational for this team and is nearly unbeatable on his home ice.
His road numbers are another story. Hart is 4-10-1 on the road with a GAA of 3.81 and a save percentage of .857. Thankfully, they have goalie Brian Elliott to make up for Hart’s road woes. Elliott is 12-5-2 on the road and has really been the Flyers’ secret weapon as of late.
Scoring splits for home-ice and road-ice hold the same advantage as the goaltending. The Flyers have 123 goals and 207 assists for a total of 330 points at home. Offseason pickup and fan-favorite Kevin Hayes leads all players with home goals at 15, and right-wing Jakub Voracek leads in home assists at 27. As for the road, they have 104 goals and 175 assists for a total of 279 points. All-Star Travis Konecny and admired captain Claude Giroux lead the way on the road. Konecny has 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points and Giroux has 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points. Konecny leads the team in points (61) and goals (24) overall and is having a career season.
One of the biggest weaknesses for the Flyers in the past few years has been their poor execution on the penalty kill. They have completely changed that narrative this year. They’re averaging an 82% penalty kill, putting them just outside the top ten overall in the league. Tampa Bay is 10th at 82.1%. The penalty kill has been one of their top weapons all season and it has yet to slow down. At the beginning of the season, the Flyers had trouble scoring on power plays. That has steadily picked up and has them sitting 7th overall in the league with 47 power-play goals.
Something that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is team chemistry. It’s not hard to see how strong the bond is between these players. In December 2019 that left-wing Oskar Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewings sarcoma and would be out for the remainder of the season as he receives treatment. This loss has created a goal for the players and fans.
The hashtag #OskarStrong was created and the players and fans have had the “Win it for Oskar” mindset. Coach Alain Vigneault has said that seeing Oskar is the “best part of his day”. The players have nicknamed him ‘Sunshine” (from Remember The Titans) because of their physical similarities and how his smile makes them all feel.
Whether it be the goaltending, the penalty kills, the power plays or the defense, this Flyers team is dangerous. Their current streak has propelled them up the standings and they seem to be dangerous at every aspect. This team has been unified by a fight against cancer and is backed by a city hungry for a championship. To overlook this team would be a costly mistake.
