The Philadelphia Flyers are not in playoff position as they stand at the statistical midpoint of their 2015-16 season. However, the team is well within striking distance.
After starting the season with a mediocre 5-8-3 record through the first 16 games, the Flyers have rattled off a 14-7-4 stretch over their last 25 games.
How have they done it? After all, the team still ranks 28th in the NHL in scoring at 2.27 goals per game (up one ranking spot and 0.46 goals per game from where they were after 16 games). Special teams remains a trouble spot. The team ranks 24th on the penalty kill at a 78.3 percent success rate (they ranked 24th at 76.7 percent through 16 games). The power play has actually dropped from 26th to 29th in the NHL over the last 25 games, although the overall success rate has modestly improved from 14.6 percent to 15.4 percent.
The overlooked foundation to the team's surge over the last 25 games has been that the club has been one of the stingiest teams in the NHL in terms of preventing opposing goals at 5-on-5. The Flyers have dropped their team goals against average from a 3.00 GAA after 16 games to 2.61 at the midpoint; good for 16th in the league.
Most of that improvement over the course of the season has come at five-on-five. Through 41 games, the Flyers have yielded just 61 opposing goals at full strength. The team now ranks fourth in the NHL in that important category.
"It’s a good foundation," said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol. "I think it speaks to our guys. You can control that [defensive five-on-five] side of the game with your work ethic and with some will. I think that speaks to that side of it. I think it speaks towards goaltending on out, guys taking pride in keeping the puck out of our net. Obviously, you need to score to win but you have to have that good foundation of being a good defensive group in order to give yourself a chance night in and night out."
Goaltending, naturally, has been a vital part of the equation. Steve Mason boasts a .935 save percentage at even strength (actually a slight drop from his league-leading .940 last season) while Michal Neuvirth is at .938 (an upgrade over Ray Emery's .913 and Rob Zepp's .894).
However, no goaltender in the world can singlehandedly carry a team if the players in front of him do not provide support. Collectively, the Flyers have embraced playing a more responsible 200-foot game.
Flyers veteran defenseman Mark Streit said, "When you compared the team playing defensively the first ten, twenty games and now it starts all the way up front with our forwards. I think they work really hard, they back check really hard. And the Ds have really good gaps and that makes it easy for us. And defensively, I think we work well together.
"We work hard, which is a key factor. And then you have great goaltending. It is a combination of a lot of things. You have to do it night in and night out because if you don’t, you get burned. I think we managed to be pretty consistent at it and we need to keep doing that."
Mason said that the team's oft-maligned blueline corps deserves their fair share of the credit, too.
"Guys sacrificing themselves, guys boxing, guys out making sure I can see as many pucks as possible and it’s those types of efforts that win hockey games," Mason said.
Another key area of improvement: The team of late has generally done a better job of attacking more and defending less. The addition of rookie Shayne Gostisbehere has helped to bolster more of an attacking mentality, but it is a team-wide improvement. Second-line center Sean Couturier, who also has posted six goals and 12 points over his last 11 games, has been downright dominant in terms of puck possession but others have been trying to follow suit.
"Since the start of the year I wasn’t really producing but I was creating a lot of scoring chances," Couturier said. "It wasn’t going in, but I think since the start of the year I’ve been a lot more confident with the puck. I feel stronger. As I’m getting older, I’m maturing as my body is getting stronger, and I’m feeling more confident with the puck and in battles. So I think that’s the main reason I’m just feeling stronger out there."
Going forward, the Flyers still have plenty of room for improvement in terms of putting the puck in the net — whether at even strength or on the power play — with greater consistency. They still need to improve their consistency on the penalty kill. Being stingy at five-on-five, however, goes a long way toward giving the team a chance to win every night.
The Flyers have inched within two points of an Eastern Conference wildcard spot. They are within six points of the two teams — the New York Rangers and Islanders — currently holding the guaranteed playoff spot that comes with finishing second or third in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers and Islanders clash head to head in Brooklyn on Thursday. On Saturday afternoon, the Flyers host the Rangers.
Bill Meltzer is a columnist for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @billmeltzer.
