PHILADELPHIA – With each passing game under new interim head coach Brad Shaw, the Flyers look a little more sure of themselves.
Maybe it’s because they look a bit more relaxed and they’re having fun.
Granted, the competition has not been powerhouse but a win is a win and the Flyers have three of those on the way to a 3-0 mark since Shaw took over for John Tortorella last Thursday.
Monday night, the Flyers hung in there against a game Nashville Predator team and came away with a 2-1 win at the Wells Fargo Center.
Backup goaltender Ivan Fedotov recorded just his sixth win of the season but looked about as sharp as he has in the past month. He faced 29 shots and allowed just one lucky bounce goal.
Fedotov was one of the players who acknowledged the team is playing a bit more carefree, starting with himself.
“It feels good after a couple not very good games for me,” he said. “And hopefully everybody feels good right now. Everybody played well, we played with structure.”
The Flyers also played with abandon when it came to blocking shots, totaling 21 plus a number of stick deflections.
Fedotov appreciated the commitment of his defense.
“Played my game, just enjoyed it,” he said. “I had fun. I feel more relaxed now. Everybody feels like myself. I made important saves to help the team win.”
Shaw had praise all around for his team’s effort, including a number of the aforementioned blocked shots in the closing minutes.
“We’ve competed in every game in the three years I’ve been here,” he said. “So I’m not surprised by the tail-end shot-blocking. Crazy, courageous. . .it’s been something that’s part of this team as long as I’ve been here. So we’re kind of feeding off what’s already been embedded.”
Ryan Poehling kicked off the scoring at 8:50 of the second period on a nice tic-tac-toe play with Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny.
Michkov triggered the play and Konecny wound up with the puck at the right hash mark. He found Poehling open at the far post for a shot past Justus Annunen. Poehling has six goals in his last seven games.
He was in sync Michkov and Konecny for this game and appeared to be having fun like Fedotov was. It’s telling that the Flyers are diving to block shots and making a commitment even though they are out of the playoff chase. Poehling had a big block at the end of the game and he explained why that sort of sacrifice is so important.
“That’s the mentality I think it takes to not just be a Flyer but stay in this league,” Poehling said. “Individually that stuff goes a long way. Teammates like it and it also keeps you in the lineup. It gets the guys fired up. It also gets you into the game. You’re doing all the little things. It was just my turn to take one there.”
After Neshville tied the score on a goal by Zachary L’Heureux at 13:14, the Flyers quickly responded. Jamie Drysdale cleaned up a loose puck from a scramble in front at 13:48.
The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first period. The Flyers’ best chance came on a Michkov breakaway. Annunen managed to get a piece of the shot and it trickled just past the left post.
With the two assists, Michkov moved within one point of the scoring lead for NHL freshmen, trailing Montreal first-year defenseman Lane Hutson, 59-58.
Like Poehling, Konecny said the Flyers want to finish this season in strong fashion.
“I think that just shows the group we have here,” he said. “No matter what we’re facing, the standings and where we’re at, guys just can’t help themselves. They want to win games. That’s why we love this group.”
>Michkov rolling
This was Michkov’s third straight two-point game. He’s closing with a rush and should be a finalist for NHL rookie of the year.
“The points are not important, it’s most important that the team keep winning,” Michkov said through a translator.
Michkov began the season with Konecny. The connection wasn’t successful then but appears to be changing now.
“I don’t know what happened but we’re understanding each other much better,” Michkov said. “He’s a really good player. He’s never thinking about points, he’s thinking about the team a lot.”
At one point in the game, Konecny flipped a high-arching pass to a breaking Michkov but the Russian lost the puck in the lights.
“The lights were too bright, I got blinded for a second,” Michkov said. “Normally it would be in the net.”
Added Konecny: “We just have a tendency to look for one another. It’s getting better and better.”
>Short shots
It’s a four-day break in the Flyers’ game schedule, with action resuming on Saturday in Montreal. This week, the Flyers will have complete days off on Tuesday and Thursday and practice on Wednesday and Friday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. . .Garnet Hathaway playing in his 600th NHL game and received a nice ovation from the home crowd when the accomplishment was announced in the first period during a break in the action.
