As that great philosopher Yogi Berra once mused, “it gets late early out there.”
He was referring to the game of baseball, of course, and the challenge of playing Yankee Stadium’s left field at sundown, but the New York great’s observation also could apply to hockey’s playoff chase as the calendar flips over.
The current campaign is not quite half over, so staring at the National Hockey League standings too long can lead to some hasty conclusions.
Yet the fact of the matter is, a pecking order has already begun to be established.
And the Flyers aren’t in it.
Going into weekend action, the Flyers found themselves just a point out of last place in the Metropolitan Division standings and four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, with No. 8 Ottawa holding a game in hand.
Plus, the Flyers were a game under .500 and are not on schedule for any postseason action again for a fifth straight, franchise-record year for non-playoff appearances.
What has to go right to end the drought? Let us count the ways:
>1. Better goaltending:
There’s been absolutely no stability at this position.
Start with the old math saying “three into two won’t go.” This applies to Samuel Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov. Ersson started the season as No. 1, holding steady and then got hurt. The other two platooned fairly well in his absence until the Swede returned.
Since then, Ersson has been unsteady and Fedotov has been downright awful, falling to third on the depth chart. The Flyers need to determine the two best goalies because having a third one around is just a distraction.
If the Flyers are going to get back in the hunt, they require better work in goal or the rest of it won’t matter.
>2. More production from leading forwards:
Travis Konecny and rookie Matvei Michkov have performed up to or beyond expectations.
At his current pace, Konecny could finish right around 100 points, which would put him in elite company and set personal records for goals and points.
Michkov got off to a blazing start but entered weekend action on an eight-game goal-less streak. Coach John Tortorella doesn’t sound too concerned because the rookie has been working on his all-around game.
After that, the numbers of the offensive leaders are iffy at best.
After a slow start, Owen Tippett has come on strong recently, with several timely goals, including an overtime deke-move winner last weekend against Columbus. He needs to keep that pro-active approach to his game.
Both Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier hit Saturday’s game at Anaheim with a respectable seven goals each but four of those came in one game for Laughton and three of those in one game for Couturier. They have to be more consistent.
Tyson Foerster (20 goals last season) and Morgan Frost (19 last season) both have played with more confidence in recent games. That has to continue.
Joel Farabee might be the one clear-cut disappointment with only four goals/12 points in his first 35 games. But he plays a solid two-way game, so Tortorella sounds like he’s willing to be patient.
This is Bobby Brink’s second full season and just four goals so far should be considered a bit short for a former NCAA scoring champion.
In all, the Flyers need to get their offense going on a more consistent basis. At the holiday break in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers’ minus-22 was only ahead of the Detroit Red Wings’ minus-33 and they just fired their coach.
>3. Defense needs stability:
Partially due to injuries and mostly due to lack of consistency by individual performers, the team’s defense is still a work in progress,
Hard to fault the No. 1 pairing of Travis Sanheim and Cam York. Sanheim is among the league leaders in scoring by a defenseman (six goals) and was also a plus-3, which is hard to do when your team is minus-22. Sanheim’s strong play was why he was chosen by Canada to play in next year’s 4 Nations tournament.
York was recently scratched but he suffered a tough injury early in the season and hasn’t been quite himself since returning.
Nick Seeler comes to play every night. He’s either knocking someone down or blocking a shot. Steady as they come. Same can be said for Rasmus Ristolainen. He does a lot of the dirty work down low when the Flyers are under siege in their own end.
Jamie Drysdale and Egor Zamula have had their moments but have to add steadier play on a nightly basis.
/n
In all, the Flyers must find ways to improve their home record (8-9-1), better their power play (down to 16 percent at the break) and find ways to get off to better starts in games.
It’s going to be an uphill climb but the Flyers have the talent. They just have to get it going soon before, as Yogi might say, the sun hits the horizon.
He was referring to the game of baseball, of course, and the challenge of playing Yankee Stadium’s left field at sundown, but the New York great’s observation also could apply to hockey’s playoff chase as the calendar flips over.
The current campaign is not quite half over, so staring at the National Hockey League standings too long can lead to some hasty conclusions.
Yet the fact of the matter is, a pecking order has already begun to be established.
And the Flyers aren’t in it.
Going into weekend action, the Flyers found themselves just a point out of last place in the Metropolitan Division standings and four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, with No. 8 Ottawa holding a game in hand.
Plus, the Flyers were a game under .500 and are not on schedule for any postseason action again for a fifth straight, franchise-record year for non-playoff appearances.
What has to go right to end the drought? Let us count the ways:
>1. Better goaltending:
There’s been absolutely no stability at this position.
Start with the old math saying “three into two won’t go.” This applies to Samuel Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov. Ersson started the season as No. 1, holding steady and then got hurt. The other two platooned fairly well in his absence until the Swede returned.
Since then, Ersson has been unsteady and Fedotov has been downright awful, falling to third on the depth chart. The Flyers need to determine the two best goalies because having a third one around is just a distraction.
If the Flyers are going to get back in the hunt, they require better work in goal or the rest of it won’t matter.
>2. More production from leading forwards:
Travis Konecny and rookie Matvei Michkov have performed up to or beyond expectations.
At his current pace, Konecny could finish right around 100 points, which would put him in elite company and set personal records for goals and points.
Michkov got off to a blazing start but entered weekend action on an eight-game goal-less streak. Coach John Tortorella doesn’t sound too concerned because the rookie has been working on his all-around game.
After that, the numbers of the offensive leaders are iffy at best.
After a slow start, Owen Tippett has come on strong recently, with several timely goals, including an overtime deke-move winner last weekend against Columbus. He needs to keep that pro-active approach to his game.
Both Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier hit Saturday’s game at Anaheim with a respectable seven goals each but four of those came in one game for Laughton and three of those in one game for Couturier. They have to be more consistent.
Tyson Foerster (20 goals last season) and Morgan Frost (19 last season) both have played with more confidence in recent games. That has to continue.
Joel Farabee might be the one clear-cut disappointment with only four goals/12 points in his first 35 games. But he plays a solid two-way game, so Tortorella sounds like he’s willing to be patient.
This is Bobby Brink’s second full season and just four goals so far should be considered a bit short for a former NCAA scoring champion.
In all, the Flyers need to get their offense going on a more consistent basis. At the holiday break in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers’ minus-22 was only ahead of the Detroit Red Wings’ minus-33 and they just fired their coach.
>3. Defense needs stability:
Partially due to injuries and mostly due to lack of consistency by individual performers, the team’s defense is still a work in progress,
Hard to fault the No. 1 pairing of Travis Sanheim and Cam York. Sanheim is among the league leaders in scoring by a defenseman (six goals) and was also a plus-3, which is hard to do when your team is minus-22. Sanheim’s strong play was why he was chosen by Canada to play in next year’s 4 Nations tournament.
York was recently scratched but he suffered a tough injury early in the season and hasn’t been quite himself since returning.
Nick Seeler comes to play every night. He’s either knocking someone down or blocking a shot. Steady as they come. Same can be said for Rasmus Ristolainen. He does a lot of the dirty work down low when the Flyers are under siege in their own end.
Jamie Drysdale and Egor Zamula have had their moments but have to add steadier play on a nightly basis.
/n
In all, the Flyers must find ways to improve their home record (8-9-1), better their power play (down to 16 percent at the break) and find ways to get off to better starts in games.
It’s going to be an uphill climb but the Flyers have the talent. They just have to get it going soon before, as Yogi might say, the sun hits the horizon.
