After finally reaching a .500 record, and yes 11-11-1 counts as .500, the Flyers face one of the toughest three game stretches they will have all season. This week they play at New York against the Rangers on the 5th, at home against the Penguins on the 7th, and then at Boston against the Bruins on the 9th. These games are perhaps the make-or-break games to this shortened season as well for the Flyers, who won 5 of their last 7 games after Captain Claude rightfully called out his teammates for not giving a 100% effort. If the Flyers can win at least 2 of the 3 games, they will prove that they are no joke and that they can compete with the elite teams of the east.
In my opinion, the Flyers can and will win two of these games. Bryzgalov has been playing his best hockey of his Flyers career and has shown no signs of slowing down. Offensively, Jake Voracek is on a tear and Wayne Simmonds has been excelling as a gritty, old-school style hockey player. Both Voracek and Simmonds got hot at the perfect time, with Matt Read getting hurt.
The two games I see the Flyers winning are the division games against Pittsburgh and New York. Although Pittsburgh has been playing great hockey all season long, the Flyers just know how to play against them. Getting Malkin back is giant for Pittsburgh, but no one knows how effective he will be after coming back from a concussion. As for New York, they haven’t been meeting their expectations so far this season. As they currently sit in 9th place in the east, their star studded line of Gaborik, Richards, and Nash hasn’t clicked yet. I think that because the Flyers are currently hot right now, they will be able to squeak past Rangers in a very close, gritty game. The Boston game is going to be a tough one. Can the Flyers win that game? Of course they can, but the Bruins have been perhaps the best team in the east so far, so playing there against a great team will be hard for any team but especially the Flyers.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
