The Philadelphia Flyers deserve credit for how they played this year. Despite coming into the season with absolutely nobody believing in them, they have proved to be a great team.
With that said, they haven’t officially made the playoffs yet. It is far from a lock that they even end up getting in. They are a young inexperienced group having trouble taking a stranglehold on their postseason berth.
On Saturday, a few things happened that show how hard it is to complete a postseason berth in the NHL as a young inexperienced team. The Washington Capitals lost to the Boston Bruins but it came in a shootout so they gained a point which allowed them to jump the Flyers.
Philly had their chance to earn some points but they blew it. They lost a very winnable game to the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the worst squads in the NHL.
The Philadelphia Flyers are in big trouble after their loss to the Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks are better off losing because winning the draft lottery for the second year in a row would help them more than a weird Saturday night win vs Philly. However, Chicago outplayed Philadelphia and won big.
That is an unacceptable loss for the Flyers against the Blackhawks. They need to win games and opponents like Chicago should be beaten. They are going to face much harder teams down the stretch and they are going to struggle if they can't beat the Blackhawks.
The one bright spot of the game was the play of Tyson Foerster. He scored the lone Flyers goal to continue his hot streak. He now is a 20-goal scorer in his first full year in the NHL. The 22-year-old forward is going to be a very good player in this league.
The Flyers aren't up again until Monday. They are going to host the New York Islanders in a huge game with tons on the line for both teams. John Tortorella needs to get his boys ready to play for that one otherwise they are in big trouble.