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The Philadelphia Flyers are a team that are not widely viewed as being much of a threat in the postseason race. While that may be true, the Flyers played like they had a chip on their shoulder Thursday night in their season opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flyers have not played well against Tampa in recent years, going 4-12 against the Lightning in their last 16 matchups. But for what it’s worth, Philadelphia played very well despite losing 3-2 in overtime on Thursday. The Flyers got a point and currently sit at second in the (essentially meaningless) Metropolitan standings.
Something that the Flyers horribly struggled with last season was secondary scoring. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek were two of the NHL‘s top point-getters in 2014-15, but the Flyers still finished in the lower half of the league in average points per game. Sean Couturier wasn’t producing points, Matt Read had an off year and R. J. Umberger looked like a total non-factor while he played hurt for much of the season.
The season opener, however, was a totally different story. Read scored the Flyers’ first goal of the season and Brayden Schenn knocked in a Ben Bishop rebound behind the crease for the second score, both goals assisted by Umberger. Those goals may not have been enough to beat Tampa, but the Flyers made a point on opening night that they aren’t just a one-line team anymore.
Obviously, there are still plenty of areas to improve on. Philadelphia had not one, but two penalty shot opportunities and couldn’t convert on either one. The Flyers lost a pathetic 11 shootouts last season and it looks like those issues still haven’t been addressed. If this team wants to even smell success this year, they will need win in shootouts.
A postseason run is improbable, but the season opener was definitely a step in the right direction for the Flyers.
Ryan Quigley is a Sports Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the NFL and the NHL. Follow him on Twitter @Quigs311 or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.
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