Photo Courtesy of Kate Frese
Under most circumstances, a five-day break between games in not ideal. This especially holds true when a team is coming off a convincing 3-0 shutout of the defending Stanley Cup champions, and next faces a team that's considered one of the preeminent offensive juggernauts of the Western Conference.
It also holds true when the same team's backup goaltender posts shutouts in consecutive games, and in doing so, generates a conversation about a potential goaltending controversy (no matter how early it may actually be for such a conversation).
It's not an ideal circumstance for most of the time, as the opportunity to capitalize on any momentum is crucial at the NHL level. But for Dave Hakstol and the Philadelphia Flyers, it's not the worst problem to have.
The most notable advantage the team has is the opportunity to refine their work on learning Hakstol's system. While they've been getting a handle of the system's finer points for over a month now, the system will still need time to be implemented, and will naturally be developed over the rest of the season.
That's not to say the Flyers will have fully mastered Hakstol's scheme by the time they take the ice against Dallas on Tuesday. As the tiresome cliche would suggest, Rome was not built in a day. The Orange and Black were not going to fully master Hakstol's system within his first four games, and they'll be lucky if they can master it by this time in two months.
"We're not going to have many stretches like this during the season," Hakstol told reporters. "We have a good foundation, but a lot of things to build and improve."
The Flyers won't have any kind of a break like this until December, where they will have six days off between a Dec. 21 game against St. Louis and a Dec. 27 game against Anaheim. Of course, the CBA-mandated three-day Christmas break is part of the reason why that break will be so long.
Considering they won't have an extended break for two months, this current break is a good time for Hakstol to continue implementing his scheme. Players have expressed that they are getting the hang of it through the season's first four games, and will look to solidify that once Tuesday comes.
It's not easy to take five days off after a convincing early-season romp of the defending Stanley Cup champs. But for the Flyers, it could be worse.
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61
