By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

For two games, the Flyers played with a shorthanded roster and without the player that has been a fixture of the lineup for over a decade. It's certainly a rarity, especially after 328 consecutive games. The captain returned on Wednesday and had an immediate impact on the team. 

The Flyers were able to open up leads in the first and second period with a pair of goals in each, before ultimately holding on for a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers.

It wasn’t a pretty win, and it wasn’t going to be pretty with the Flyers still plenty shorthanded from their COVID situation. But Claude Giroux marked the first player to return on a list that will only be increasing with each passing day, and he showed just how motivated he was to come back strong.

Here are five takeaways from Wednesday’s win.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

For the last two games, the Flyers had to press on without their captain due to his presence on the NHL's COVID list. Claude Giroux made his return to the ice on Tuesday for practice and to the lineup on Wednesday. He looked as motivated as ever.

Giroux had three assists as the Flyers struck for two goals in the first and second periods, holding off the Rangers in a 4-3 win on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The trip to Lake Tahoe provided a memorable setting for a game, but far from a memorable result for the Flyers. The 7-3 defeat to the Bruins marked the fifth time Boston has defeated the Flyers already this season, a third of the results on the 2020-21 season. Lucky for the Flyers, they don't have another meeting with Boston for over a month.

The Flyers are also getting some reinforcements back in the lineup. Claude Giroux returned to practice on Tuesday and was the first of the players on the COVID list to return. More will follow in the coming days. For now, Giroux and the rest of the team continue their season, facing the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

After a trip to Lake Tahoe and a second game without most of their regular lineup, the Flyers are starting to turn the corner when it comes to available players. Captain Claude Giroux was back on the ice for the first time since going on the COVID list on Feb. 9, leading to the postponement of that night’s game against the Washington Capitals.

Giroux had some added energy at practice, and it doesn’t appear there will be an easing in process for him. Giroux skated on a line with Kevin Hayes and Nolan Patrick, and assuming he feels well enough following a brief skate on Wednesday morning, he will return to the lineup against the Rangers.

Alain Vigneault called Giroux a game-time decision.

By Siobhan Nolan, Sports Talk Philly Contributing Writer

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms continued their stellar run in the AHL, once again owing a large part of their most recent victory to Zayde Wisdom and Zane McIntyre. While in the NCAA, Flyers prospects were all involved in wins this past week. Let’s recap.

"He's not supposed to be this good, this young. But somebody forgot to tell Zayde Wisdom that." pic.twitter.com/17actGiPRv

— LehighValleyPhantoms (@LVPhantoms) February 21, 2021

The Phantoms faced off against the Binghamton Devils on Feb. 20, and it was all about Wisdom and McIntyre. Wisdom collected two goals, with a third being scored by Max Willman, and McIntyre boasted 25 saves in the 3-0 shutout of the Devils.

Over in the NCAA:

Cam York (D)—University of Michigan

• Feb. 20 - 1 assist in a 6-0 win over Ohio State University

Jack St. Ivany (D)—Boston College

• Feb. 19 - 1 assist in a 4-2 win against the University of Maine

Jay O’Brien (C)—Boston University

• Feb. 20 - 1 goal, 1 assist in a 3-2 OT win over the University of Connecticut

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

If the Flyers were satisfied to take a point given the circumstances in Thursday’s game against the Rangers, they were handed a result that was essentially expected based on the lineups on paper on Sunday in Lake Tahoe. 

Through 20 minutes, the Flyers managed to remain competitive with the Bruins, even leading in the game for a few brief moments. But as was anticipated, the Bruins lineup did their damage as the game wore on, and in the closing stages of the second, put the game out of reach.

While it may have been an expected result given the circumstances, there were things on display where the lineup didn’t really matter. The Bruins have had the Flyers number all season. So has David Pastrnak. That wasn’t changing no matter who was on the ice.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s 7-3 Flyers loss to the Bruins.

The YWT Podcast is back for another week and the Flyers finally made their return to the ice, losing in a shootout to the New York Rangers on Thursday with a shorthanded lineup. At the time of recording, the team was preparing for another game with a shorthanded lineup against the Boston Bruins on Sunday night.

Kyle Collington and Kevin Durso talk about the week that was as the Flyers returned without a number of regulars in the lineup, the NHL's Lake Tahoe reschedulings, and more.

You can listen to this episode of the podcast below and be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts and Podbean. 

You can also watch the episode and subscribe to watch all episodes of the YWT Podcast on YouTube.

As always, we want you to follow the podcast on Twitter @YWTpodcast and follow Kevin Durso on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

When the Flyers played the Bruins in Boston early in the season, they had a lead slip away in the first game and were locked in a close 2-1 game in the second where one bounce could have tied the game back up. Instead, a late goal set the stage for a third-period unraveling.

With a shorthanded lineup once again, the Bruins got another late second-period goal that started the unraveling. This time, it didn't even take until the third. Three goals for the Bruins in 1:39 capped off a four-goal period, as the Flyers were routed in the outdoor game at Lake Tahoe by a score of 7-3 on Sunday night.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers and Bruins are taking things outside at Lake Tahoe. For the Flyers, the Bruins have been a thorn in the side for the entire season, handing them four losses so far. The road doesn't get any easier as the Flyers head into this game with a still shorthanded lineup.

The Bruins continue to sit atop the East Division standings and pace the division. However, the playing conditions are even for both sides, as neither will have touched the outdoor ice surface prior to warmups and poor conditions forced the suspension of Saturday's outdoor game to Saturday night and pushed this game back to an evening start time.

Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers did what they could with what they had to work with. In their first game back after a 10-day pause from game-play due to a COVID outbreak among the team, the Flyers had a majority of their usual lineup on the ice, but were also trying to fill the vacancies of six regular players. 

Somehow, they managed to get the game to overtime and earn a point. They’ll take it. 

While the Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak and earned just their fifth win of the season against the Flyers on Thursday night, the circumstances the Flyers were in made this an uphill battle from the start. The Flyers got off to a good one at that, but ultimately had to overcome too much to secure that second point.

Here are five takeaways from Thursday’s shootout loss.