For a few seasons now in Philadelphia sports, the 'P' word has been a dreaded word. Playoffs. Few teams have reached them. None have succeeded.
Regardless, a stretch of unsuccessful seasons is enough to drive Philadelphia fans insane. With the way the Flyers season started, it was easy to call it as seen, another year of building and not running.
That's what happens when a decent 4-2-1 start to the season is followed by a 1-6-2 stretch.
And then, suddenly, the Flyers seemed to just rise from the dead. The team with just 13 points in the standings in their first 16 games has gone 10-4-4 since, producing 24 points and reaching a total of 37 points, three better than where they were a season ago.
That still has the Flyers on the outside looking in, but not by nearly as much. And it's the recent swing of successful play on the ice, fueling the climb in the standings, that has the Flyers in the thick of things.
Traditionally, the benchmark for a potential playoff push is right around Thanksgiving, just shy of Dec. 1. If you do not hold one of the eight spots by then, you face the uphill battle of getting there in the last "half" of the season.
If not by Dec. 1, definitely by the time the NHL pauses for Christmas.
On Thanksgiving, the Flyers were 7-10-5 with just 19 points. What a difference a month makes.
As the Christmas break commences for all NHL teams — play freezes until Dec. 26 league-wide — the Flyers are fifth in the Metropolitan Division and fourth among the teams competing for a wild card spot. They are three points out of the final playoff spot, four points out of the first wild card spot and six points out of the final spot reserved for the top three Metropolitan teams.
In addition to beating some pretty good teams along the way to their improved 15-12-7 record, several other teams have cooled significantly.
In the entire NHL, only two teams have point totals of 45 or greater, the Dallas Stars (54), Washington Capitals (52) and St. Louis Blues (46). There are currently 20 NHL teams between 34 points and 44 points — three behind the Flyers and seven ahead.
That narrow margin makes games all the more meaningful once the season resumes, but it also might just be an aid to the Flyers.
Last season, as the Flyers tried a similar desperate push to get back into the playoff race, they struggled to get up for games against lesser teams, teams that spent more time talking about the Connor McDavid sweepstakes than the playoff hunt, yet they would roll off huge wins against teams that were right in the thick of things, or better, that had already locked up a spot.
This season, there are so many teams in the race at this stage that there isn't reason to feel like any one team is weaker. Of course, the Flyers first opponent following the Christmas break is the Anaheim Ducks, who sit last in the Western Conference with 30 points.
Last season, the Flyers closed the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule with three straight wins and a 6-1-4 record in December to that point. They returned with five straight losses and a 3-7-1 record in their next 11 games.
So that's what the Flyers must avoid, the slow start out of a break. It's something that you get the feeling Dave Hakstol won't let happen.
But it's more than just the next three weeks. This is about finally forming some consistency to make a playoff run. Hakstol's challenge was to try to take what is essentially a transition team and prove they are good enough to make the playoffs and maybe even win a series. If the Flyers can get the upper hand and put themselves in position to play from a playoff spot rather than looking up at one, it would be hard to see Hakstol not keep his players on course.
It went from being a season where the Flyers might just roll over and wait for the next wave of prospects and another top pick to come through.
But that's not what this franchise does. The goal is to win, and they have been doing a lot of it lately. That's not a bad Christmas present to give the fans of Philadelphia.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
