PHILADELPHIA – Was it just a coincidence or did the fact the Flyers recently went 0-5-1 when Bobby Brink was out of the lineup and then went 2-0-1 when he went back in mean something?
Well, you be the judge.
Consider this: Brink scored a big goal in the Flyers’ win at Colorado on Friday night and another in an overtime loss at Utah last Wednesday.
The talented right wing just seems to make the right play at the right time. He’s already set a career high with 13 goals this season and there are still 32 games to play.
When speaking at Monday morning’s skate at Xfinity Mobile Arena, coach Rick Tocchet said his team’s strategy against the Islanders on Monday night would be to get to the interior as Brink did against the Avalanche.
“A perfect example,” Tocchet said. “Two guys got to the interior, they knock the puck down and Bobby’s right in front of the net and scores.
“Those are the goals in these division games we’re looking for.”
Brink is certainly not built like the prototype interior player but doesn’t mind getting his nose dirty.
It certainly helped the Flyers regain their footing on the road trip.
“I don’t know if it was me,” he said. “I think every team goes through a tough stretch at some point in the year.
“It hurt having to sit up in the standings watching the guys go through what they were going through. So it’s good to be back.”
>Vladar set to return
Goaltender Dan Vladar, on IR since Jan. 14, has been working out and should return to action sometime this week, according to Tocchet.
“He’s pretty close,” Tocchet said. “If we had to, he could have backed up tonight. But he’s going to get in sometime this week. Barring anything (a setback), he’s been doing a lot of work so he’s really close.”
In Vladar’s absence, Sam Ersson has played quite well, especially in the 2-1 win at Vegas last Monday.
The three games on the recent road trip might have built up Ersson’s confidence a bit and perhaps earned him a little more playing time as Vladar’s backup.
“I’m proud of Sam,” Tocchet said. “We’re going into a road trip – Vegas, Utah, Colorado – and it’s kind of a death trip, a gauntlet. He obviously wanted to play better. He dug deep. Those are three tough teams, tough buildings, high-end players.
“And he comes out of it really solid. That should build confidence in him. So we should have confidence in getting him in the nets.”
>Unselfish play
With the 7-3 win over the Avalanche coming to a close the other night, Travis Konency was presented with a clear path to an empty net, but chose to pass off to Matvei Michkov, who put the puck in for his second goal of the game.
It was unselfish play that you don’t see that often in hockey.
Michkov is one player who could use a little more confidence and Konecny provided that.
“It’s an unselfish team,” Tocchet said. “I see a lot of those traits on and off the ice with this group. I liked it even before the empty net. Because we pressured the puck, TK read the pass from ‘D’ to ‘D.’ I liked what happened there with the pressure.”
>Shaking off the rust
Due to the storm, the Flyers were off from practice for two straight days (they had been scheduled for an off day on Saturday, the snow took care of Sunday), so Tocchet was asked if his players might be a little rusty after that much time away from the ice.
Tocchet indicated he wasn’t worried.
“To me it’s all mental,” Tocchet said. “If you’re off for two days, what are you doing? I’m sure some guys did something, moved around.
“But this is a mental game. You should have used these two days to rest, not rust. I would say the schedule has not been great for us in the sense of practice time. But every team has to go through it. And you have to be ready for it.”
Was snow shoveling any part of a recommended fitness regimen?
“You get the squats in there, right?” Tocchet said with a smile. “I mean why not? But I don’t want them doing it for four hours. So why not? I bet a lot of people were out shoveling yesterday.”
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