So back on December 26th when they Flyers started their annual holiday road trip, we all would’ve hoped for a better record than 2-2-2. We thought, “well, Columbus and Los Angeles are two certain wins, and Vancouver, Anaheim and Chicago were certainly winnable. Washington? We beat them 7-1 less than a month ago, we could do it again. Well, it didn’t really go as planned. Columbus got their first ever win against the Flyers, and lowly Los Angeles picked up a shootout victory. But this isn’t bad.
Before the trip, the Flyers sat in second place in the Atlantic Division at 19-8-7, good for 45 points, just two behind the Rangers. If you remember, New York had like 18 games in hand over us (okay, it was three), and the six games in 12 days the Flyers played on this trip helped with in catching up to the Rangers. At the close of the trip, they still have one game in hand and are tied in points with 41, an improvement from the start of the trip.
The first-place Flyers also have taken a gigantic lead over fourth-place Pittsburgh, but that’s in thanks to the fact that they lost five straight (tee hee), with a 6-1 loss to Florida highlighting the bunch. The Pens have gone 2-5 since Christmas, picking up only four of 14 possible points, and their tail spin has dropped them out of the playoff picture, let alone the Atlantic race.
The biggest concern for the Flyers right now has to be the third place team, though, the Devils. They dropped a game tonight to the Hurricanes 3-2, but were the only team to gain ground on the Flyers in the division race since Christmas. They went 4-3-0, earning eight of 14 possible points, gaining two points on Philly. They now sit two points back with a game in hand, meaning that if they win that contest we could have a three way tie atop the Atlantic.
Now many would still say the Flyers 2-2-2 mark on the road was a disappointment, but given the amount of injuries the team suffered during their Western excursion, it’s more than an admirable feat.
