The Philadelphia Flyers continued their excellence so far this season, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-2 contest and moving to a 10-7-1 record. The Flyers, on a five-game winning streak, have quietly been one of the best teams in the NHL as of recent. What were some takeaways from the Flyers’ win?
Sean Walker Continues to Make a Difference
He’s been doing it all season, so there should be no surprises that defenseman Sean Walker was an essential contributor offensively to the Flyers this game. Putting up two assists, one coming off a steal that sprung a 2-on-0 breakaway pass, he continues to prove that the Flyers are a much better team with him on the ice. He has been one of Philadelphia’s most important players so far this season.
Walker has been exceptional through the first quarter of the season. He might be prone to a mistake defensively here and there, but he has not had any issues helping create offense. Starting up goal-scoring plays on more than one occasion during the Flyers’ winning streak, any defensive lapses should be offset.
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Walker, an unrestricted free agent (UFA) this offseason, might not make it past the trade deadline for Philadelphia. If this season ends up being his only one for the Flyers, he will definitely be missed on the back end. He has been an unexpected yet reliable force for the Orange and Black through their first 18 games.
Flyers’ Special Teams Aid Their Victory
After the Flyers struck on the power play for the first time in their last 27 attempts in their first game of their back-to-back, they did so again versus the Blue Jackets. In some good news for their penalty kill, they scored their first shorthanded goal in nearly a month, holding a league-leading five shorthanded goals on the season. Shutting down Columbus’ man advantage on top of their two goals on special teams, it was a solid effort from both of their units.
The Flyers have had a lot of success with their penalty kill, but they haven’t always coupled that with production on their power play. Doing so in this game, it is what elevated them to a victory, given the Flyers only had two goals at 5-on-5. Special teams as a whole have been a mixed bag overall, but the Flyers will win hockey games if they can go on good runs like the one they are currently on. With their power play now scoring by any means necessary, perhaps they might have found the recipe for making it a bit more respectable.
Flyers’ Play is Sustainable
In what can provide hope for the future, the Flyers are proving that their play is not unsustainable by any means. Over their winning streak, they have not had incredible goal-scoring outbursts, their goaltending has been good but not sensational, and no individual has played over their head. With the Flyers receiving contributions from their entire roster, they can continue to win games as the season moves along.
There is always the potential for the Flyers to start struggling and lose games at a staggering rate, but their play during their win streak has been enough to beat top teams in the NHL such as the Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, and even the Carolina Hurricanes. They have not always displayed their fullest potential during those games, but they have won them regardless. There has always been a margin for error, even though the Flyers might not have a true superstar on their roster.
If the Flyers make the decision to be sellers at the trade deadline, that’s when their play might start to dip. If they make it to that point and still have a winning record like they do now, that will have made this season a pretty big success with what they are working with. The Flyers haven’t needed an abundance of star talent to win hockey games. Once their star prospects are cleared to play in the NHL, they could be a fun watch almost immediately.
Frost Will Likely Stay Out of the Lineup
In his short time with the Flyers this season, Morgan Frost has been much better than his numbers suggest. Generating offense frequently and rounding out his two-way game, he has still not gotten any love from his coach, being benched in place of Bobby Brink for this contest. Coming off four points in his last four games, his production has not stopped head coach John Tortorella from choosing to sit him. Since the Flyers got the win, this might not be a single-game ordeal.
With the only three players that have been sat for him this season having great games, including Ryan Poehling, Tyson Foerster, and the aforementioned Brink, Frost has likely returned to Tortorella’s doghouse. Having a stint where he was a healthy scratch for six games in a row, there is a chance that he has returned to being an afterthought once again.
Frost’s good play on the ice has proven to be irrelevant this season, so perhaps him being a frequent sitter for his coach might be much deeper than what the general population is aware of. His play has been pretty remarkable, and was finally starting to heat up in the points department in his last four games of getting a chance.
There have been players on the offense who have had down seasons to this point and still have not been sat for a single game. Regarding Frost, there is likely a trade looming. The Flyers are winning games whether or not he is on the ice, so perhaps his situation isn’t worth the time of day for the organization anymore.
The Flyers have taken on quite a few top-end Western Conference teams to this point, but they will play only teams from their division during their next stretch. They will travel to Long Island to face a 6-6-5 New York Islanders team on Nov. 22, trying to head into American Thanksgiving with a victory on their plate.