Philadelphia Flyers: Top players from the first round

It was a group effort as the Flyers are moving on to the second round. But there were a few players who stood out over the rest.

It took six games, but the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens to make it to the second round. It was the first time they had won a playoff round since 2012. It wasn’t an easy series to win either.

The Canadiens were hungry and determined to prove everyone wrong after making it through the play-in round. The Flyers did not play their best game during most of the series either. That’s a big reason Montreal hung in as long as they did.

But when it came down to it, the Flyers were able to get just done to move on. They will certainly need more from up and down the lineup against the Islanders.

Before we look ahead to that series, we take a look at some of the players who stood out above the rest against Montreal.

Jakub Voracek

If there was a forward that was on his game from the start of the series, it was Jakub Voracek. He had one point during the three exhibition games, though he only appeared in two of them.

He finished the first round with four goals and four assists in six games. Two of those goals came during the fifth game. It was a part of his first career three-point playoff game.

It’s not hard to argue that he was among the best forwards in this series. It wasn’t even necessarily the goals he scored that made him that way. When he was on the ice, he was one of the best play-drivers and had the best chance at scoring to begin with. His expected goals percentage (61.06) was almost six percent better than the next forward.

Increase that to 72.29% and again a six percent difference when you look at all strengths. His play driving was five percent better than the next forward as well.

The team also did not give up a goal when Voracek was on the ice at even strength. Overall the team outscored Montreal 7-1 when he was on the ice. That was by far the best ratio among all Flyers.

Philippe Myers/Travis Sanheim

Okay this one might be somewhat of a cop out, but you can’t have one without the other. The pairing of Philippe Myers and Travis Sanheim was arguably the best that the Flyers had on the ice during the playoffs.

Even when faced with a suspension on their backend, the pairing was left alone. And for good reason. The two drove play well when comparing the Flyers most common defensive pairings. They were also expected to produce a goal above the same group. This is only at even strength also.

It’s only a seven minute difference when you include all strengths as the two don’t see the power play and penalty kill as much as other defensemen. But the numbers are still similar.

While not their strength, they each had a small contribution on the score sheet throughout the six game series. Sanheim had two assists while Myers produced a goal.

The two young players are entering their second and first playoffs respectively. Either way, they didn’t have much experience coming in. But they haven’t been playing that way.

Derek Grant

Okay so this one is more of a joke than anything. But come on, this was truly the best moment of this series. On the heels of the head pats Hart received during the previous game, it was only right they were given in return.

The only thing that would’ve been better is if Hart gave them himself instead of Grant. But the Flyers got the last laugh in this series.

And the other players mentioned above were a big reason why they skated away with the series victory. They’ll have to be on their games once again in the second round.