The Flyers most complete game in recent memory came on Thursday night against New Jersey. Their most dominant and lopsided performance came Saturday afternoon against Carolina.
A 5-1 win over the Hurricanes marked the Flyers fifth straight game with at least a point in the standings. Lately, the points have been finding the Flyers both on the ice and in the standings.
With wins in three of those five games, perhaps the Flyers really are coming alive.
"It was important for us to go game by game and not look at the big picture," Claude Giroux said. "Now looking at the big picture, we're starting to have a better and slowly climbing up the standings. We always find a way to battle back and play as a team."
"What's impressive about today's game is that we never stopped skating," head coach Craig Berube said. "We kept skating in the third period and kept moving the puck and doing the right things."
For the second straight game, credit the secondary lines for performing well. The third line opened the scoring with Matt Read and Sean Couturier working hard around the net and Couturier finding a way to stuff the puck past Anton Khudobin.
Scott Laughton and Brayden Schenn led a rush that set up Wayne Simmonds for a blast to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. For a team that struggled to get started early and score the first goal, they've been improving in that regard, especially in the last two games.
A power-play goal featuring Giroux, Simmonds and Jake Voracek – the goal scorer – took a close 2-1 game and provided a cushion.
Within the next five minutes, the Flyers added goals from Laughton – his first in the NHL – and Michael Raffl to extend the lead to four. Game over.
"Definitely a big relief," Laughton said. "I think it definitely weighs in the back of your mind. I thought I had opportunities every game playing with the two guys I am. Nice to get that one out of the way and keep going."
The Flyers can also attest to a strong defensive game for the second straight outing. Steve Mason made 25 saves. The Flyers also blocked 24 shots, doubling Carolina's total.
"I think the guys did a really good job of taking away everything," Mason said. "They did a great job blocking shots. They were working hard. It was another solid effort."
"We had to become a better defensive hockey team," Berube said. "Defending starts in the offensive zone with forecheck. It's getting better and better and we're playing better as a team defensively and that's a big thing."
The biggest issue for the Flyers, who seem to have some confidence restored from three wins in the last eight days, is the upcoming schedule. Beating a mumps-plagued Devils team and a struggling Hurricanes team was expected. On Tuesday, they get the NHL's top-scoring team in Tampa Bay. On Thursday, the Panthers come into town a much-improved team from the one the Flyers defeated handily, 4-1, on Nov. 6.
Even with home ice, the Flyers have just two games left in 2014 to enjoy the comforts of home. And it's best that they rack up as many points as possible while they have the confidence and the energy there.
"When you're winning hockey games you do play more relaxed," Berube said. "It's nice to get a lead like that, but we kept skating and checking.
"It's a process. It takes a while. We want to shoot the puck from everywhere. It's part of playing defense. You make the opposing team face their net. It's an important part of the game."
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
