Photographer: Kate Frese

The Flyers showed some signs of nearing the end of their struggles. Perhaps Saturday is the day, but it will come against another difficult opponent, the Winnipeg Jets, who have been in the running for a division title and top spot in the conference all season.

The Flyers have recalled defenseman Travis Sanheim from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on an “emergency conditions,” GM Ron Hextall announced on Friday.

That’s now four straight losses for the Flyers, who are suddenly going through the motions of these games and falling into some of the same bad habits that led to a 10-game losing streak back in November.

The Pittsburgh Penguins once again handed the Flyers a familiar result, defeating the Flyers for the third time this season, 5-2, at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. 

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Flyers, as a stretch of four games in six days begins with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who are starting to heat up at the right time again.

Now that the Flyers are comfortably in the playoff picture, it’s time to see where they stand up against tougher competition. This week will provide plenty of opportunity to prove they belong among the top teams in the conference and the league.

At 6’1″, 200 pounds and 21 years of age, Ivan Provorov is becoming the young stud the Flyers were hoping for and needed him to be in the traditional and non-traditional hockey sense.

This is only the beginning on a very difficult month of March ahead, and that continues with one of the hottest teams in hockey looking to make an improbable run back into the playoff picture. The Flyers close out a weekend back-to-back against the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon.

For the Flyers, the chance for a new streak begins against the Eastern Conference’s best in the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners in five of their last six games. Game time is set for 1 p.m.