Cal Pickard
The Flyers next challenge comes just over 24 hours after completing the shutout win. The Toronto Maple Leafs await, fresh off a loss to Columbus.
After turning in the worst period of the season that ultimately was their downfall in a 5-2 loss in Buffalo on Wednesday, one that had the fanbase sharpening pitchforks and lighting torches ready for some form of change to be made, the Flyers responded with a quality win against a divisional opponent.
For the first time in five games, the Flyers scored the first goal of the game and never looked back, as all three members of the top line had three-point games and Cal Pickard pitched a 31-save shutout in a 4-0 win over the Rangers on Friday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers enter the Black Friday matinee against the Rangers on a four-game losing streak, last in the Metro, 15th in the conference and 28th in the league standings. And the road doesn’t get easier. The Rangers come into Friday’s game on a 9-1-1 stretch over their last 11 games.
The Flyers struggled at the start and were massively outplayed early, but managed to trim a 4-0 lead to a 4-2 margin, but never any closer in a 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
The momentum of the Flyers six-game points streak is gone, and a 9-9-2 mark and 20 points through 20 games is really not all that different from any other season under Dave Hakstol.
Allowing three power-play goals, six goals to even the most potent offense in the Tampa Bay Lightning and making enough fundamental mistakes to create a deficit in the first place don’t look good. But the rally showed some character. It may not be a win but the Flyers need to channel this effort late in the game into better results from here.
The Flyers rallied with four unanswered goals in 6:04 to erase a 5-1 deficit, but fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime, 6-5, on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.
The opponent in this final game of the homestand is the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team atop the Eastern Conference standings and they bring a wealth of scoring into Philadelphia. Game time is at 1 p.m.
Flyers goalie Brian Elliott will be out for approximately two weeks with a lower-body injury, GM Ron Hextall announced on Friday. Alex Lyon was recalled from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to take his place. Cal Pickard will serve as the starter.
