(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Flyers make their return to the ice on Wednesday night out of a six-day break for the holidays. They do so with the memory of their last game still certainly fresh.
A 4-0 loss in New Jersey was a rough way to end an excellent start to the month of December that had stretch through the midpoint. As the Flyers embark on a three-game road trip, starting Wednesday in St. Louis, getting back to the level of play they had to start December is a focus for GM Ron Hextall.
"We need to come out of this trip with some points, get back to playing good hockey," Hextall said. "Obviously, our last game we weren't happy with and we need to be better."
The Flyers are in a unique spot this year, a position they have not been in each of the last four seasons. The Flyers were always chasing in the second half, needing a massive comeback run to make the playoffs in two of those four seasons.
This season, a strong December, complete with 10-game winning streak, has the Flyers in a playoff position already. They have 20 wins in 36 games. They have 44 points, which if not for Columbus' season-long 13-game winning streak, would easily be in the running for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
Columbus leads the way there with 52 points — and they have three games in hand on the Flyers. But after that, Pittsburgh has 51 points in the same 36 games, the Rangers have 49 points in 37 games and Washington is tied with the Flyers with 44 points but with three games in hand.
And right now, all of that means nothing. It's not about how many games the rest of the teams have to play. It's about the Flyers keeping the foot on the gas to force those teams to keep winning too.
"It's important not to give back the ground we've gained," Hextall said. "I think that's the biggest thing. We gained some ground over the last month or so, but we can't give it back. We've got to keep pushing here. That's hockey in this day and age. You've got to keep pushing."
That said, the Flyers really are where they are at this point. The 10-game winning streak was nice, but that's yesterday's news with Columbus reaching 13 straight wins and Minnesota hitting 11 wins in a row and the rest of the Metropolitan Division staying hot.
The Flyers are, at the very least, there and control that destiny. A big part of controlling their destiny will be facing more Metro opponents. After a west coast trip, the Flyers will play five of their next 10 games against Metro opponents, including the last four games of that stretch.
So while the standings show the Flyers in a good spot, the win streak they put together is a thing of the past. With losses in three of four games, they do still need to avoid the letdown that could come from a break. Finding a way to put up a consistent effort is a start.
"We're happy with where we're at, but we have a lot of work to do," Hextall said. "We've got to become more consistent. Obviously in the last month, we've been really good. Before that, we weren't as good and we've got to become more consistent over the course of the whole year."
