When they stopped playing on Dec. 21 and headed into the Christmas break, the Flyers were feeling good about themselves and ecstatic over the prospect of actually being in a playoff hunt.
All it took to destroy what they built – 18 points in 12 games – was three losses on the West Coast.
Suddenly, the Flyers aren’t feeling very good about themselves. Even worse, they're seven points out of the wild card with the mid-point of the season approaching on Saturday against the Islanders.
“If we want to come back into this race, we need to play better,” team captain Claude Giroux said. “All three of those games we were in the games in the third period. Good teams find a way [to win].”
Last year at this point (38 games), the Flyers were nine points out of the wild card. And they failed to make up the ground.
Over the next 11 games, the Flyers play 10 games within their conference and are chasing all but one opponent there. This would seem an opportune time to make up ground.
Either the Flyers are going to get back in it or they’re season is going to go dark rather quickly.
“It’s not easy,” said defenseman Mark Streit, one of the veterans in the leadership group. “A lot of teams are playing good hockey. Every game means a whole lot. From this point on, things go quick. We know the position we’re in. It’s January. All-Star break comes soon.
“Every game is more important than the last one … We had a good stretch, lotta wins, gained points and then you lose three in a row and the back end gets bigger again. The team is going through a rough time … You have slumps. The important thing is get out of it as quick as possible.”
Montreal visits Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
The good news is that Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price is out with a right knee injury. The bad news is the Habs still beat up on Boston in the Winter Classic.
This won’t be an easy game for the Flyers. Yet they need two points. Desperately.
“Right now, you start paying more attention to the standings,” Wayne Simmonds said. “We’re coming up on the half-way point. To this point, you’re aware of what’s going on but you are not looking at every single point.
“But looking at this next stretch of the season, you’re aware of where you are, how many points back, who you are chasing and who you’re playing.”
Last season, the Flyers fell double-digits behind in the wild card race in the second half, yet cut the gap to four points on March 5.
It was the closest the Flyers would get. Their collapse began March 7 in Boston.
Their current gap is not insurmountable. Yet it’s critical given the upcoming schedule.
“We were in a lot better shape [at the break] than we are now,” Simmonds admitted. “That’s what happens. You come back and don’t play three good games and that’s what happens. It’s a quick turn and we have to stop it now.”
Within the Metro Division itself, the Flyers will play the Islanders twice and the Rangers, Washington and Pittsburgh once.
Within the conference, they have two games against Boston, plus Montreal, Detroit and Toronto once all before the All-Star break. Outside the conference, they travel to Minnesota on Thursday.
“There’s no more time,” Simmonds said. “We can’t lose more points here. The teams above us in the wild card spot chasing for third in their division are winning games. We can’t afford to lose anymore ... Teams in your division? It’s four point games. We have to make our move now.”
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said the club discussed what lies ahead in the next 22 days during their video session this morning.
“We’ve talked about the big picture of what we’re working toward,” Hakstol said. “A week like last week puts a big dent into a lot of the work we did before we went on the Christmas break.
“Now we have to readjust, scratch and claw and get those points back. You’re not going to do that overnight or one day. That’s got to be a sustained effort over time.”
Crunch time starts tomorrow.