Talk about a meeting of the cellar dwellers. The Philadelphia Flyers are on a five-game (0-4-1) losing streak and, in a shocking turn of events, the New York Rangers have also found their way into the basement--the Rangers are last in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers have gone 1-6-2 since the holiday break, have been outscored 42-22 in those nine games, and in the last week lost to the Boston Bruins 10-2 and the Ottawa Senators 8-4. Now that is a bad team!
While injuries to Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin explain the recent losing skid, this team was flawed from the start: a lot of veterans on the wrong side of the aging curve, and a general manager that seems determined to tick off his locker room--though so far this year he's avoided gaffes as bad as forcing Chris Kreider and then-captain Jacob Trouba out of New York. It's a fractured, depleted team that the Flyers have an opportunity to take advantage of.
Three Storylines
Can Kolosov or Ersson establish themselves?
Sam Ersson started Thursday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but was pulled after just over a period of play; he allowed three goals on just 14 shots, and was replaced with Aleksei Kolosov, fresh up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Kolosov didn't fare much better, allowing another three goals on 16 shots. Neither netminder inspires much confidence. Until Dan Vladar can rejoin the team, the Flyers don't have any other option.
Can the Flyers offense step up?
During this losing stretch, the Flyers have been outscored 25-9; they've scored more than two goals in a game only once. This team simply does not have the talent to outscore its goaltending weaknesses, but, with a tandem of Kolosov and Ersson for the short term, they're going to have to find a way to put the puck in the net--whether by figuring out the power play or opening up their 5-on-5 play to a degree.
The Barkey-Michkov solution
Denver Barkey returned to the lineup against the Penguins, and he skated alongside Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov. Per Natural Stat Trick, that trio played 9:46 together at 5-on-5--the highest of any Flyers forward line. In their minutes, they managed a 93.68 xGF%, again the highest on the team. It's only a one-game sample size, but those three seemed to have something, and we'll be watching to see if Rick Tocchet leans on them again against the Rangers.