Flyers look ready for a long playoff run

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Philadelphia Flyers are heading into the upcoming NHL playoffs with a bit of a chip on their collective shoulders. The team is looking like the team that many had predicted they would be at the start of the season and everyone is taking notice these days, mostly notably the Pittsburgh Penguins.
 

While there is an outside chance that the two teams won’t meet in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Flyers and Pens are destined to clash in what should become a grueling 7-game series. It is arguably the best rivalry in hockey these days. Rattle your brain for a few minutes and try to come up with one as nasty, dirty, more hate filled than the one between the Flyers and Penguins. If you can come up with one, good luck, you’re going to need it.
 
Who would have thought that after a slow start to the season (that’s putting it mildly) by free agent pickup Ilya Bryzgalov, the loss of defenseman Chris Pronger, a rash of injuries, a team record 11 rookies, would have the Flyers with the fifth most points in the league, be third overall in team scoring, lead the league in rookie scoring, and see the return of Bryzgalov to his former self that made him such a hot prize in the off-season.
 
Eleven players have 10 or more goals led by Scott Hartnell, who was sitting at the end of Head Coach Peter Laviolette’s bench when the season started is having his best season ever as a pro leading the team in goals with 36. Claude Giroux is playing like one of the best players in the league with 89 points. Only Steven Stamkos and Evgeni Malkin has more points than Giroux.
 
Not to be outdone are the Freshmen Flyers, the rookie crop that is headed by Matt Read, who is first in goals by a rookie, fourth in points, Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, and Eric Wellwood. Read, who was not drafted by an NHL club, has come out of nowhere (otherwise known as Bemidji State (WCHA)) to impress everyone with his speed and skill.
 
Couturier, taken 8^th overall in 2011 by the Flyers as part of the Jeff Carter trade, has become a solid two way player. Schenn, after a slow start to his season no thanks to injuries, is play his best hockey at just the right time, and Wellwood’s speed is not only dazzling to watch, but admire with his solid play as well.
 
The trade deadline pickups of defensemen Pavel Kubina and Nicklas Grossman have solidified the blueline in Pronger’s absence. The Flyers are playing much better defensively and have improved their special teams play as well. They are 5^th on the power play and a respectable 15^th on the penalty kill.
 
The only Achilles heel the Flyers have these days is their slow start to games. The team has made a habit of going down early, not by a goal but by two and three goals in the first period. Still, the Flyers have shown the kind of resolve that championship teams are made of.
 
We won’t know until sometime in June if that will come back to haunt them or not, but if it doesn’t the Phillies won’t be the only team that could have a parade down Broad Street in South Philly this year.
 
Contact the photographer at Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com