Philadelphia Flyers
While the Flyers deal with a depleted lineup from COVID and injuries, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town on Thursday night, fresh off their ninth straight win.
The Ducks are an upstart team with a ton of potential. That’s easy to see. They showed plenty of it from the youngsters still in the lineup, ending the Flyers road trip on a sour note as tougher matchups are ahead.
The Ducks were in the same position, with several players also out on COVID protocol, but that didn’t stop them from showing just how much talent they possess. Troy Terry scored a hat trick as the Flyers finished a four-game road trip with a third straight loss, 4-1, in Anaheim.
The four-game road trip out of the holiday break ends with one more game on the West coast on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks, albeit with many players out due to COVID protocol on both sides, including both team captains, a budding young star for Anaheim, and the Flyers other top-pairing defenseman.
The guys break down the games this week, the NHL’s COVID pause, opting out of the Olympics and World Juniors being cancelled, while also looking ahead to the new year for the Flyers and examining Sean Couturier’s injury. Join Kyle Collington and Kevin Durso as they break it all down.
The law of averages essentially caught up to the Flyers. Out of the break, they were lucky to get a win in Seattle and stole a point in San Jose. Deservedly, they have nothing to show for a defeat that featured more sloppy play, more poor puck management, and continued lapses in defensive coverage.
The Kings turned in a dominant performance on Saturday night with a 6-3 victory to snap the Flyers seven-game points streak.
A short trip from San Jose to Los Angeles marks the next stop on this post-holiday road trip, as the Flyers try to extend the points streak to eight games against the Kings.
Injuries, COVID, and everything else aside, the Flyers are not clicking the way they need to. They may be turning the corner in terms of results, but they may be turning into a head-on collision with some of the best teams in the league still ahead on the schedule.
One night after getting the win in overtime, the Flyers didn’t get the same fate on this night. Tomas Hertl scored on a rebound with 30.8 seconds remaining to hand the Flyers a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
