The first week out of the All-Star break did not exactly go as the Flyers had hoped. A 1-2-1 week finished by back-to-back regulation losses to the Devils and Rangers leaves the Flyers scrambling some in the Eastern Conference standings, and peeking behind them rather than looking up ahead. It can be a slippery slope if the losses start piling up so the next week holds some importance.
Here are some issues that are catching my attention.
Avoid slump
The Flyers remain one of only two NHL teams to have avoided a three-game losing streak this season. The Vancouver Canucks are the only other club. It is a very important note. If a team avoids a significant losing stretch, its chances of being in excellent position in the standings come April are very good.
The Flyers have been very resilient, posting a 15-5-1 record in games after losses this season. However, with their lost weekend against the Devils and Rangers, they will need a victory against a suddenly spunky Islanders club on Tuesday to avoid their first three-game swoon. Get a victory and perhaps then they can get greedy and try to build a winning streak.
Key saves
It seems this subject just continues to get attention. I am usually very reluctant to point the finger at goaltending because I think many times making goaltending the main issue is just oversimplifying the problem and glossing over other weaknesses..
However, this season the Flyers goaltending has been very inconsistent. The hope was that Ilya Bryzgalov had re-energized during the All-Star break to set himself up for a great second half. Those hopes seemed justified when he stopped 55 of his first 57 shots in three appearances out of the break.
But then came Sunday with his struggles at Madison Square Garden and there is the feeling that we are back to square one. Sergei Bobrovsky hasnt been able to get on an extended run of excellence either. So, the waiting game continues and two months remain to get one of these guys into a significant groove.
Defensive desperation
In fairness to the goaltenders, the play in front of them over the weekend was spotty at best, too. Against New Jersey, there were breakdowns early on and Bobrovsky held the team in for most of the first period. Eventually, the pucks started going in net. Sunday in New York, there did not seem to be that defensive desperation that is necessary.
NHL
The Flyers have been a decent shot-blocking team for most of the season. There wasnt much of it at MSG. Both teams took 57 shots at net, but the Rangers blocked 25, while the Flyers only got in the way of 10. The result? A 38-23 disparity in shots on goal for the game, favoring the Rangers.
The Flyers need to do whatever it takes to help out their goaltenders and that includes laying out in front of shots and checking desperately all over the ice. Cut down on the turnovers as well and that goals against average will start going in the right direction.
Power play clicking
One aspect of the game the Flyers have been able to count on recently has been the power play. It has registered at least one goal in seven consecutive games now, operating at over 30 percent in the process.
The high-low screens of Scott Hartnell and Wayne Simmonds, combined with the creative passing of Claude Giroux have made it difficult for enemy penalty killers to put the clamps on the Philadelphia man-advantage unit. Ironically, the unit has exploded minus one of the more productive power-play performers of the last two decades, as Jaromir Jagr has either been injured or on the second unit during this latest surge.
Simmering Simmonds
Speaking of Wayne Simmonds, he has quite possibly been the teams best player over the last seven or eight games. He has already set a new career high for goals in a season and his work in the trenches along the boards and in front of the net has been exemplary.
He enters this week with four goals in his last three games, a bunch of hits and a fight. He has been performing like one of the leagues top power forwards, moving up to the first power-play unit and potting some big goals.
If Simmonds is able to continue this type of performance the rest of the way and Brayden Schenn maintains his progression, the Mike Richards trade to Los Angeles is going to start looking very positive from a Philadelphia standpoint, even if the Flyers former captain has a strong finish out west.
For the second straight week, the Flyers have four games in six nights with some rather stiff competition this week. The Islanders have lost once in regulation in their last eight games and seem rejuvenated. The Maple Leafs are desperately battling for their playoff lives. Then, the weekend brings the top two teams in the NHL in points, the Rangers and the Red Wings.
Its a challenging week for sure. One gets the feeling well have a much better idea of what this club is made of a week from now.
E-mail Jim Jackson at jjackson@comcastsportsnet.com.