The Philadelphia Flyers aren’t giving up despite dwindling playoff chances

Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

There’s no other word to use to describe the Philadelphia Flyers’ season than “wild.”

Most expected the team to be near the bottom of the NHL standings this year. But after an incredible first half, the Flyers suddenly found themselves in serious playoff contention.

Until just recently, of course.

It’s coming down to the wire between the Flyers, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and Detroit Red Wings. The Flyers were sitting somewhat pretty in the third spot in the Metropolitan Division for the majority of the season, but a recent skid has put them on the outside looking in.

“It’s like this every year for a lot of teams where you have to find ways to get points to get in,” veteran defenseman Marc Staal said. “It’s been a struggle for us for sure the last little while here, but we can still rip off a few wins in a row and give ourselves a chance.”

Coach John Tortorella knows a thing or two about being in a must-win situation this late in the going. Tortorella was coach of the New York Rangers in an epic “win to get in” game back in 2010. Ironically, the Flyers won the game in the shootout to secure the final playoff spot en route to a trip to the Stanley Cup final.

“That was a whole different game because if you win, you get in,” Tortorella said. “We win — we don’t get in, that just gives us another life, another day of life. This is totally different than that. I remember that, I remember the shootout and all that went with it. This is apples and oranges as far as I’m concerned.”

The Flyers don’t control their destiny like they might have a month ago. After finally snapping an eight-game losing streak, this group needs a little help from teams around the league to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Despite the negativity over the past weeks regarding their results, the Flyers haven’t lost sight of how they’ve earned the right to be competing for a spot this late in the season.

Tortorella has emphasized that he hasn’t been concerned about the team’s effort; instead, it’s been more structural.

“I think coaches are always worried about how the team’s going to play,” the 2004 Stanley Cup-winning bench boss said. “I want them to succeed. I want them to get back in the win column to make this interesting with two games left. I’m frustrated for them.”

The Flyers desperately needed its 4-1 win against the New York Rangers on Thursday night to keep them in the fight. All four of those goals came from the rush, an area of their game that Tortorella felt they needed to find again.

“We’ve been a rush team all year long,” he said. “It’s been tough for us to get going in this time of year with the way teams are playing. I think we’ve lost a little bit of our transition, but tonight we found a way.

“Two years ago, all we did was forecheck and try to score goals,” Tortorella continued. “This year, it’s been a different team off the transition and I think it’s fed off of being good defensively – that’s where you get your turnovers and get going the other way”, he added.

The recent struggles have weighed on the Flyers a bit, but the morale hasn’t wavered.

“The last eight games for us haven’t been great,” Scott Laughton said. “We kind of knew that – putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. It felt like tonight it kind of got back to where we were, playing aggressively – making it hard for teams to enter our zone. We’ve got to continue that, we’ve got two games left – they’re must-win games and we got to keep going here and see where the chips fall.

“We put ourselves behind the eight ball, it’s a bad time to have that stretch, but we’re looking forward and we’ve got two games at home now.”

There’s still a lot of positivity in the Flyers’ room – and it’s been there all season long. These guys want to play meaningful hockey games, and they’ve bonded through all the outside noise of people doubting them.

“When everyone was saying that we’d be in the bottom three of the league we kind of came together and have had that tough mentality all year,” Laughton said, adding the team thrives as underdogs. “We put ourselves back in the conversation here (Thursday against the Rangers). Torts has been pretty clear in his message all year. You know what to expect from him and it’s been great for not only the older guys, but I think the young guys can get so much out of it – to come in the NHL and have that accountability right away.”

The Philadelphia Flyers aren’t giving up despite dwindling playoff chances

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