Despite disappointing exit, Flyers believe playoffs were valuable experience

PHILADELPHIA – It will take a couple days for the disappointment of the Flyers’ unexpected early exit from the playoffs to wear off.
So they won’t start clearing out their lockers at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. until Tuesday.
In the meantime, they can take solace in the way they battled to just get into the playoffs, then took care of favored Pittsburgh before bowing out to Carolina in four straight, capped by Saturday night’s 3-2 overtime defeat at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
For the playoffs, rookie Porter Martone and goaltender Dan Vladar, to name a couple, played above expectations.
But the guy who really proved he can still play this game at age 33 was captain Sean Couturier. He did an exceptional job keeping an eye on Sidney Crosby during the Pittsburgh series and scored a big goal in Game 2 of the Carolina set.
Couturier was the first one to meet the press after Saturday night’s game and displayed more emotion than he usually does.
He knew playing the Hurricanes would not be easy but believed his team hung in there rather well.
“I thought it was tighter than a 4-0 series,” he said. “You know we get a couple bounces our way, a few moments, maybe we pull out a win or two.
“I don’t know how many posts we hit the last couple games. We had our chances. We didn’t capitalize when we needed. And you have to give them credit, they played the same way no matter what.”
The playoffs were a great learning experience for a number of young players, including Alex Bump, who scored to tie the game in the third period and sent it into overtime.
It also brought the young players together.
“I think they’re some of my best buddies,” Bump said. “It’s been super cool. We were just talking how much it (the postseason) means to the fans. Just how much it’s going to make us work harder.
“We’re not done I don’t think. We’re just going to get tighter.”

>Power play blues

The Flyers have struggled on the power play for the better part of five seasons and things didn’t change much in the playoffs.
They finished up just three for 36, a meager 8.3 percent, which was 14th out of 16 teams. That continues to be a sore point for the Flyers coaches.
“We’ve got to work on that,” Travis Konecny said. “We have to execute, obviously. I’m sure it bothers them just as much as it bothers us. We’re going to go into the summer as a group and make sure that we’re better next year.”