The Flyers and Their Playoff Chances

The Flyers are one of the top teams of the NHL and are reflecting it in their play. They are first in their own division and conference and second in the NHL, only one point behind the Vancouver Canucks. The Flyers, as many know, will do very well in the Playoffs this year, if not win it all. In my opinion, the Flyers are the team to win it all. I believe, even though other teams have top goal scorers or top notch NHL goalies, the Flyers...well, they have something very unique and good about them.

The special thing the Flyers have is a nitty gritty style of hockey. By this I mean that the Flyers are a team who fights for their wins, and do not give up even when all odds are against them. The Flyers know all too well what it’s like to be behind in a series with all odds against them, but they too know well, how to overcome those obstacles and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Flyers not only have that fighting until the end style of hockey, but also a huge confidence in their team and the players on it. How do I know this? Well, first of all the Flyers made absolutely no trades in the past couple of months. Also, their own GM said that he likes their team and intends to keep it the way it is.

The Flyers, have many other aspects that will help them go above and beyond in the playoffs this year and although a listed a few, they may be the most crucial and important to the team. So let us all root for the Flyers this year and help them achieve the ultimate hockey achievement, the Stanley Cup.

The Flyers vs. The Senators

The Flyer's lone goal scored by Scott Hartnell



On Saturday night, February 26th, the Flyers went up against Eastern Conference rivals the Ottawa Senators. The Ottawa Senators who are currently last in the Northeastern Division and Eastern Conference and barley holding on to 29th in the NHL, are a team looking for points from keeping from being the ridicule of the NHL. The Flyers, following quite the opposite path are first in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. They are looking for points to still jump on top of the Vancouver Canucks, who hold 1st in the NHL.

The Flyers struck first with a half-breakaway goal from Scott Hartnell at 19:40 in the 1st period. The Senators, looking to tie the game up, took advantage of a power play and Nick Foligno scored a goal over the blocker side of Brian Boucher, at 12:18 in the 2nd. The Senators, looking for the lead, struck again with a well cycled puck that found Erik Condra, who found the back of the net at 16:10 in the 2nd. The Senators, once again found the back of the net with a goal scored by Chris Phillips from behind the right circle at 11:15 in the 3rd. Erik Condra, who plays for the Senators, scored again on the power play with a tip in at 18:35 in the 3rd.

The Flyers seemed to fall apart after the end of the 1^st and showed it. The Senators, a team who normally don’t play well, took advantage of this blessing and got the two-point, regulation win over the Flyers, 4-1.

The Flyers vs. The Islanders

 

Andrej Meszaros's overtime game winning goal

On Thursday night, February 24th, the Flyers faced division and conference rivals, the New York Islanders, a team who are last in the Atlantic Division and 14th in the Eastern Conference, are looking for some points just to stay out of last and maybe, just maybe with some luck gain a playoff berth. The Flyers, are quite the opposite, they are still first in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference and are still looking for points to jump on top of the Vancouver Canucks for first in the NHL.

The New York Islanders scored first with a goal from Frans Nielsen at 9:03 in the 1st, who took it all the way up the ice by himself and shot one right pass Flyer's net minder Sergei Bobrovsky. The Flyers struck back at 1:58 in the 2nd with a goal from Mike Richards, who had a wide open shot at Islander's net minder Al Montoya. The Flyers, looking to gain the lead, cycled the puck well to James van Riemsdyk who shot it to a half-empty net at 17:31 in the 2nd. The Flyers put the Islanders in a 3-1 deficit at 5:05 in the 3rd with a goal from Jeff Carter right out in front of the net. The Islanders, looking to come back, cycled the puck to the front of the net and gave it to Matt Martin, who hit the back of the net at 6:31 in the 3rd. The Islanders, once again struck back with a one man advantage thanks to an empty net.  It was the same man as before, Matt Martin, who caught the puck in mid air, dropped it, and scored at 19:32 in the 3rd. The game went into a sudden death overtime and the Flyers, knowing how pivotal it is to ear points, hit the back of the net with a goal that the Islander's goaltender just wasn't quite ready for. The goal was scored by Andrej Meszaros at 4:42 in OT.

The Islanders, fought back well, but just gave a change to good to resist to the Flyers, who capitalized and ultimately earned the two-point, overtime win.

The Flyers vs. The Coyotes

Claude Giroux's goal from off his knees

On Tuesday night, February 22nd, the Flyers went up against the Phoenix Coyotes, a team who holds first in the Atlantic Division and third in the Western Conference and are looking for points to maintain a stable playoff spot in the run for the Stanley Cup. The Flyers, a team who still maintains first in the Pacific Division and Eastern Conference are still looking for point to beat out the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the NHL.

The Flyers found the back of the net as Ville Leino scored a goal from behind the two circles at 6:24 in the 1st period. The game continued on quietly until the Coyotes struck back with a goal from Eric Belanger that went over the blocker side of Flyer's goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky early in the 3rd period at 2:44. Phoenix, looking to gain a lead on the Flyers, had a goal scored by Taylor Pyatt at 10:10 in the 3rd, that hit the Flyer's goaltender and found it's way in behind him. The Flyers, at 18:47 in the third were looking to change the momentum in hopes of winning the game, had a goal scored by Claude Giroux while on his knees! As the 3rd period ended, the game went into sudden death overtime. Phoenix, while having the Flyer's goaltender screened, took advantage of a power play with a goal scored by Shane Doan at 2:41 in overtime.

The Flyers, although ended up loosing, still got on point and played a well-fought game and just were unfortunate to be a man down in overtime. The Coyotes, a smart team, took advantage of this opportunity and won in OT (Overtime) 3-2.

The Flyers vs. The Rangers

Dan Carcillo's "lucky" goal



On Sunday, February 20th, the Flyers faced off with the New York Rangers, a team who holds seventh in the Eastern Conference, a not so comfortable spot in the playoffs. The Ranger's main goal was to earn points to keep themselves in the run for the Stanley Cup. The Flyers, on the other hand, hold a comfortable first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, but are still looking for points to beat out the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the NHL.

New York struck first, with a goal that was scored by Wojtek Wolski at 12:43 in the 1st, a goal that just barley slipped by Flyer's goaltender Brian Boucher. The Flyers, looking to gain some momentum, scored a redirected goal by Jeff Carter at 16:42 in the 1st. More than halfway through the second, the Flyers took advantage of a power play and scored a goal by Claude Giroux at 12:52 of the second that New York Ranger's Henrik Lundqvist had no chance of stopping. The Flyers scored once again; with a goal from Dan Carcillo at 16:26 in the 2nd that barley trickled by the Ranger's goaltender. Thus, putting the Ranger's in a 3-1 deficit. The Rangers, looking for some type of momentum boost, had an empty side net goal scored by Derek Stepan at 5:28 in the 3rd. The Flyers looking to finish off the Rangers, took advantage of a wide open empty net and scored with a goal from Kris Versteeg.

Luckily for the Flyers, but unfortunately for the Rangers, the Flyers capitalized on opportunities that put them ultimately up on the Rangers 4-2 giving them the win and two-points that they wanted.

The Flyers vs. The Hurricanes

Erik Cole's game winning goal.

On Friday night, February 18th the Flyers squared off with the Hurricanes, a team who is looking at points and opportunities to keep their spot in the playoffs. The Flyers, a team that currently holds first in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference and second in the whole NHL, looked for some points to maintain a first spot in their division and conference and some points to jump on top of the Vancouver Canucks, who currently maintain a slight lead over the Flyers for first place in the NHL.

Carolina was the team who hit the back of the net first with a goal at 4:12 in the 1st period scored by Chad LaRose with a tip-in that barely made it past Flyer's goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The Hurricanes struck again at 6:37 in the 1st period with a slap shot from Jeff Skinner that barely made it by the Flyer's goaltender once again. The Flyers, after much desperation and hard work, found the back of the net with a beautifully placed shorthanded goal, at 2:57 in the 2nd period, over the glove side of Hurricane's goaltender Cam Ward scored by Blair Bretts. After a poor cycle, the Flyers struck once again. A goal scored by Braydon Coburn at 14:47 in the 3rd period, a shot that Cam Ward never saw because he was screened by his own players. The last team to hit the back of the net was sadly, Carolina, with a well placed goal over the glove side of Sergei Bobrovsky. The goal was scored by Erik Cole at 16:57 of the 3rd period.

Ultimately, it was a well fought game for the Flyers, but the Hurricanes got some breaks that gave them the advantage and the two-point, regulation win over the Flyers.