RALEIGH, N.C. -- Theres a lot to like about the Flyers as we officially hit the midpoint of the season Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Offensively, there is almost nothing you can argue or worry about other than that the eighth-ranked power play has the potential to be a top five and could perform better at home.
Weve had a lot of new players and young players come into the organization and theres a process there, coach Peter Laviolette said. Weve been able to generate offense usually, getting more opportunities during the game than the opposition. Thats a good sign for me.
There are six rookies on the roster playing right now.
Laviolette said that among all his players, young veteran Claude Giroux has taken his game to another level this season, which is evidenced by his statistical rankings and his mannerisms on the ice, that came fully into view during HBOs 247.
The best team on the road (14-6-2) in the NHL needs to greatly raise its level of play on home ice (10-6-2) to balance things out, and Laviolette already stressed that during the clubs recent three-game home stand.
Defensively, there are concerns and much has to do with the absence of Chris Pronger.
NHL
The Flyers simply arent as strong in front of their goaltenders as they were before. Surprisingly, they have actually been outscored in the third period this season, which is a concern for any team that prides itself on shutting down others.
Laviolette admitted he wasnt sure what that says in the grand scheme, other than buckling down at the end of games is necessary.
I dont know if there is an answer for it, he said.
While Ilya Bryzgalov hasnt looked like the goalie he was in Phoenix, with career lows in goals-against and save percentage, the bottom line is, the absence of Pronger with a weaker sixth man this season has left the Flyers vulnerable at times in front of their own net.
Do we miss Chris Pronger? Absolutely, what team wouldnt miss their top defender? Laviolette said. And I say that in conjunction with Kimmo Timonen. I dont think it does any good to make excuses.
Could we have used Chris last night in Ottawa? Absolutely, but its not an excuse for losing. We could have done a lot of things better. I think Sunday night was an isolated incident.
Laviolette admitted that much of his feelings can easily be clouded by Sundays truly ugly 6-4 loss in Ottawa in which the Flyers not only blew a two-goal lead late, but were atrocious in how they handled the puck with a lead.
Some of the edge the Flyers had defensively is gone without Pronger and that needs to return if their goaliesparticularly Bryzgalovare going to have chance to upgrade their play in the second half.
The unchecked traffic in front of Bryzgalov has to dissipate.
We didnt make good decisions in front of our net last nighttheres lots of things that bother me about last night that need to be better and we went over it today and watched video and we constantly work to fix things and be better, Laviolette said.
Asked how he is going to get Bryzgalov back to the point where he feels good about himself and his game, Laviolette said, When youre winning hockey games, players feel good about themselves. When you win them the right way.
We went on that stretch of 7-0 there and won some good hockey games. Now weve gone on a little bit of a funk and win three or four to get back on track and then have a tough one last night.
We were in shape to win that game but we got careless in what we were doing. And careless the whole night. There were too many things I didnt like about the game, things that have not popped up a lot this year. And they popped up in the last couple games.
The Flyers will attempt to upgrade at the trade deadline, even if it means paying dearly against the salary cap because no one in the organization knows for certain when or if Pronger will play again this season or thereafter.
To that end, in some ways, this Flyers team reminds you of some of the early Jaromir Jagr Penguin clubs that didnt win the Stanley Cup, but went deep in the playoffs simply by outscoring teams.
This group has shown that ability.
I would prefer to win games 4-1, Laviolette said the some of the high-scoring games his team has had this season. I think were an attack-oriented team and theres been a lot of nights where weve held the opposition to very little. Our shots against are among the bottom 10 in the league.
But weve coming off three games here against teams that generate a lot of offensive production and we showed cracks, not based on injury or anything other than the fact we didnt do a very good job.
Laviolette said that because this team has so many young players, its still striving to find that nightly consistency that veteran-laden clubs often demonstrate.
We continue to show things and work on things and thats what you need to do with a new team that is also a young team, he said.
Laviolette said if there was one specific area of play he wants to see improve in the second half of the season its on the defensive side of the puck.
The attention to detail when it comes to defense, he said. Good decisions with the puck will eliminate some of the turnovers were making. Simple things.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net