Flyers Quarter Season Grades
By Bryan
Flyers Quarter Season Grades: Offense
Talk about a tale of two teams. In the first fifteen games, the Flyers scored 23 goals, only slightly better than a 1.5 per game. In the last six, they’ve scored 22, producing at a clip well over 3.5 per game. Better yet, the scoring has been balanced such that every line’s gotten into the action. Claude Giroux still has yet to truly bust out, but his puck control and decision making is greatly improved. Though Brayden Schenn has been the subject of trade rumors, he’s currently tied for the team lead in points while playing hard-nosed Flyers hockey.
Sean Couturier, Matt Read, and Steve Downie are starting to look like the best third line in the sport, combining Read’s all-around skill, Couturier’s smarts and defense, and Downie’s passing, pesting, and hard work. Jakub Voracek just had a five-game point streak broken, and though Scott Hartnell still leaves something to be desired, it’s nice to know that the Flyers have an abundance of weapons, all of whom are dangerous on any given night. On the other hand, their confidence rests on a razor’s edge and a few more games are required to know that they’ve truly overcome the worst start in franchise history.