Saturday, February 12, 2011
Posted: 1:32 p.m.
By Sarah BaickerCSNPhilly.com
If it felt just a bit more like spring this morning, the Flyers noticed it, too.
The weathers finally climbed out of the 20s, but more than that, playoff hockey is quickly approaching. And league-wide, teams are starting to play like it.
Want proof? Just take a look at the Flyers past three games: a 3-2 win over Nashville, a 3-1 win over Dallas and a 2-1 win over Carolina. Those scores are a far cry from the wild blowouts seen at times during the first few months of the season.
And theres no reason to expect the trend will end anytime soon.
Thats one of the things that weve talked about, Sean ODonnell said. Early in the year, you see a lot of 6-3 games, 5-2 games. Once February and March roll around, you are going to see a lot of 3-1, 2-1, 3-2 games.
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Every team is either hunting for that last spot or trying to jockey into position or playing for pride. Everyone still believes that they have a shot to make the playoffs, so were going to get everyones best effort every single night.
The Flyers are fortunate to be a team competing for a prime spot in the postseason, as opposed to simply any spot at all. But the approaching of spring means that teams on the cuspthe Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, for examplewill only play with more desperation as the days pass.
The Flyers will face both of those teams in the next eight days. And at No. 1 overall in the Eastern Conference, as well as second in the league, they will be a benchmark for every competitor they face until the close of the regular season.
Starting out hosting the L.A. Kings on Sunday (another team battling for a playoff appearance), is it safe to say the Flyers have a big week ahead of them?
Every game from here on out, asking the same question, my answer will probably be, yeah: big week, coach Peter Laviolette said. Big games. Important games. Tough games. All yes to those.
Ville Leino, who acknowledged that everyone notices the heightened intensity of the game this time of year, echoed his coachs sentiments.
A lot of teams are battling for the playoffs, Leino said. Theyre really fighting for a spot, like Carolina and Nashville, who need to stay in the battle. Everybody knows theyre going to play hard against us, so right now, every game is a tough game.
That idea has been a recurring theme in the Flyers locker room since the passing of the All-Star break. As such, the team has dedicated a lot of time in recent weeks to practicing the elements of the game that can give them an edgenot the least of which has been special teams.
Youre going to see teams fighting for their life, Danny Briere said. Games are going to get more and more intense. Every little edge that you can get out there is going to beour special teams won us the game Thursday, which was good to see, because it hasnt happened that much this year.
As good as the Flyers have been in recent weeks (theyre 13-3 so far in 2011), there is still plenty of work to be done. At 17.9 percent, their power play is 14th in the league, which is far from stellar. And despite their bevy of recent wins, theyre only four points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and just six points in front of the Tampa Bay Lightning, whom theyll face on Tuesday.
The games are going to keep getting tighter and tighter, Matt Carle said. For us, too, it seems like weve been on a heck of a run, but we havent created much separation from Pittsburgh, so its going to be a battle coming down to the wire.
E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com