Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers face the top team in the Metro, the Washington Capitals, on Saturday night. The Flyers have played two very competitive games against the Capitals this season, but also face a critical situation where they need to continue gaining points to keep pace in the division and playoff race.

The Flyers season is at a crossroads. On one hand, they are right in the thick of the race already and not in a frantic chase back to the playoffs. But they also learned the hard way on Thursday night that every game matters, even the ones against teams in the bottom third of the standings.

The New Jersey Devils scored 13 seconds in for the only goal they needed. They also scored in the first two minutes of the second and third periods as well, cruising to a 5-0 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.

The New Jersey Devils come to town on Thursday night, as the Flyers look for their third straight win and fifth in the last six games. The Flyers are also looking to extend a five-game points streak.

Brian Elliott’s first start as the leading netminder with Carter Hart down with injury came on Jan. 16 against St. Louis, a game the Flyers were able to win, 4-3, in overtime. Since that start, Elliott has posted a 4-0-1 record with a 1.58 GAA.

The Flyers took care of business, getting a pair of shorthanded goals, including another from Kevin Hayes, while Brian Elliott made 16 saves in another shutout and the Flyers claimed the 3-0 win over the Red Wings.

For several weeks, the Flyers have been playing the league’s best teams on a consistent basis. The next two games present an opportunity to earn some points against some of the league’s worst teams. It starts on Monday night with a game in Detroit against the last-place Red Wings.

The Flyers get back from the bye week and get three points over the weekend with an overtime loss to the Penguins and a win over the Colorado Avalanche. The guys break down the two games and take a look around the league at some of the other action, including everyone’s favorite play: the goalie fight.

Nearly every goal the Flyers scored in their 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche proved to be timely in some way, whether because of a timely save by Lyon or just helping them always keep a grip on control of the game. The Flyers never trailed, but with full knowledge of how the game 24 hours earlier played out, a big swing could have been moments away.