Flyers bail on fourth line for now, remain patient with other players
The fourth line of Nicolas Deslauriers, Garnet Hathaway, and Ryan Poehling has been a lot of fun to watch. They have done their job well in shutting down opposing teams without putting the Flyers down too much offensively. Perhaps most importantly, they are physical without being reckless.
Poehling has taken a backseat while the Flyers try to figure out what to do with Frost. However, he has been a nice surprise this season. While he hasn’t registered a point yet, he has generally played well.
And despite everything that has happened, Coach Tortorella is still very patient with this team. He is not blaming any players for nights when things go wrong. Instead, he keeps rallying to their side. He is proud of the fact that they are giving everything they have night in and night out. If Tortorella saw a player who wasn’t giving their best, that would be a different story.
Instead, he seems pleased with these results. So far, this team is outperforming the public’s expectations of them, and there is growth here. We may not see it all at once, but if you look hard enough, you will find it. We’ll see where this team is after the next 10 games.