We are one week away from the trade deadline. The Flyers are red hot right now, winning three games in a row and scoring 12 in their last two games. Remember, it was just a month ago that they got shut out in three straight games. It seemed as if they couldn't buy a goal. Now they are scoring almost at will. Where've they been hiding these goals? Hopefully, they haven't used them all up. We want to see more.
The Flyers may soon get a chance to have another big night. The upcoming schedule has them rematching with the lowly Pens in Pittsburgh. A repeat performance of what we just saw would be awesome. Ersson's been solid in the net. The bottom lines have been scoring. Let's keep it rolling and hope the top lines can jump in as well.
That would be great except.......
After the Penguins, the schedule gets tougher. A lot tougher.
Have you seen the upcoming slate of teams? First, there is a road matchup against the Winnipeg Jets. They are also known as the best team in the NHL right now. They are tops in fewest goals scored against, best in power play, and second best in goals scored. They are great offensively and defensively and look like a legit juggernaut. This game will be a test of how good the Flyers really are.
It doesn't get much easier from there. On the plus side, after playing the Jets, the Flyers come home for a long extended stay. The Flyers will be on a seven-game homestand that will take up most of March. In order, the Flyers will face off against: Calgary, Winnipeg, Seattle, New Jersey, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, and Carolina. Wow.
Of those seven teams, only Seattle has a losing record. All of the others are (currently) playoff-bound teams. However, if you have been watching the Flyers over the last few years, you know that they have a remarkable ability to play well against great teams and play stinko against poorly performing teams.
With the other teams, the Flyers have to face off against the Jets twice. Carolina is still one of the best in the East, as is Tampa. The Senators and Flames are barely clinging on to a playoff spot and will be bringing their best when they play Philly.
Along with the long homestand, the Flyers will also have some nice reunions. When Ottawa returns, Claude Giroux will be coming back to Philly. As much as it hurts to see him in anything but orange and black, it will be nice to see him again. With Calgary coming in, this will also be the first time that Flyers fans can see Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee here since the trade.
So again, with the trade deadline looming, it will be interesting to see if the Flyers make any other moves. More importantly, is this a team on the rise, or are they stagnant? If they can stay hot and win the majority of these upcoming seven home games, maybe this team isn't far from turning it around, especially against top-notch teams. If not, we can start to examine where this team is heading and what changes need to be made in the offseason.
Perhaps if this team does well, maybe they will prefer to hold onto their players a little longer instead of trading them away. If this team clicks well with each other in the current format, this might be the beginning of something special.