Well, how 'bout that? The Philadelphia Flyers return home 2-0-1 after a grueling road trip through the Western Conference's best teams. They beat the best team in the Pacific Division, the Vegas Golden Knights, 2-1 in a tightly contested game, shattering their seven-game win streak. Then, the Flyers went to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Mammoth and...actually, let's not dwell too long on that embarrassing 5-4 overtime loss.
The real shocker was the 7-3 victory over the best team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche (though not everyone was thrilled about it). The Flyers were on their heels early, but managed to take advantage of the opportunities that came their way, and Owen Tippett registered his second career hat trick. It was an outstanding win that puts the Flyers a mere two points back from the New York Islanders, who are third in the Metropolitan Division with 59 points.
It just so happens those same Islanders are the Flyers' first opponent of the week. Talk about a critical matchup, one of those four-point in-division games. The Islanders have lost two in a row, but Ilya Sorokin is putting up a Vezina-caliber season in net, Bo Horvat's back in the lineup, and phenom Matthew Schaefer is still a spectacle to behold. The Flyers better show up hungry, because their seven-game losing skid should make them desperate for a regulation win against the Isles.
The Flyers catch a bit of a break after that, traveling to Columbus to face a mediocre Blue Jackets squad that's 4-7-3 against the Metro. After a surprise season that saw Columbus just barely miss the playoffs last year, they've been a mess this year. Still, in a tightly contested Eastern Conference, their 53 standings points aren't too far from that third playoff spot in the Metro. Add in a new coach bump (they've gone 5-1-0 since replacing Dean Evason with Rick Bowness), and they may be more of a handful than their record lets on.
From Columbus, the Flyers head up to Beantown for the second half of their back-to-back. The Boston Bruins have been a streaky team this season, stringing together multiple wins in a row, only to lose quite a few in a row as well. The Bruins are in a wildcard spot at the moment, but given their volatility as they retool, it's difficult to say whether they're a true playoff contender or not.
The Flyers return home at the end of the week to welcome the LA Kings, yet another team that's been difficult to pin down. The Pacific Division is so weak this year, but the Kings are not even in a playoff spot. Anze Kopitar is retiring at the end of this season, and it's clear Drew Doughty's best days are behind him, but they have some exciting young players in Brandt Clarke and Quinton Byfield, too--the problem is, none of it has come together as anticipated. After so many first-round losses to the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs, the Kings may not even get to the post season at this rate.
Many expected the Flyers to come out of their western jaunt with one, maybe two points if they were lucky; instead, they returned with five of a possible six. This week, the Flyers' opponents all appear beatable--none of them are world beaters, at least on paper, and the Flyers should be able to get a couple of wins under their belt.