Durso: Poor homestand should prompt changes from Hextall

There will be many discussions had in the next few weeks about the direction the Flyers are heading.

The players and coaches will tell you making the playoffs is still the goal. The owner expects nothing short of a playoff run every year.

But the general manager is going to let the players dictate what happens next.

Following a dismal finish to an eight-game road trip, Ron Hextall has essentially given the Flyers an ultimatum: start playing better and winning or heads will start to roll.

The Flyers got off to a good start with a determined 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators in a shootout on Tuesday.

The Flyers have eight more games at home this month and just three on the road. That stretch of home games holds the same meaning as the recently-ended road trip. If the Flyers really believe they can erase the 10-point gap in the standings, this is the time to do it.

Hextall won't wait to make changes if he feels that's necessary. But the Flyers need to change his mind after a horrible pair of games over the weekend.

This was a start and an unlikely start at that. The Flyers first shootout win at home could be just the thing that sparks a run.

That said, any run goes through the teams the Flyers need to catch. As the schedule progresses, the competition will only get tougher.

It is the opposite of the road trip. The Flyers opened against three tough opponents and won all three. Aside from the loss to Nashville out of the holiday break, the Flyers last four opponents on the trip were struggling and below them in the standings. It hardly mattered.

So the Flyers test now is to get better on the homestand as the opponents get bigger.

One shootout win doesn't make the Flyers a new team or put them anywhere close to being back in the race. But it did deliver what Hextall wanted. Finally solving the shootout was a break the Flyers way.

If you make one break, perhaps another can be made in the next game. One break could be all it takes.

It's a stretch to say the Flyers are anywhere close to being a playoff team. Tuesday's win still came with a fair share of mistakes. But every comeback must start somewhere.

This team, this organization, doesn't have the word "tank" in their vocabulary. It will never happen. But changes are coming if the turnaround doesn't.

This is the Flyers last chance, their last stand. It started on a good note. But as was seen with the road trip, things can go south in a hurry. If things go south this time, it will put the Flyers season to rest for good.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.