Mark Streit, in just his sixth game back from an injury that sidelined him for six weeks, scored his first goal since the return with 8:28 remaining in the third.
The race was on for the Flyers from there.
In a third period that had a playoff feel to it, the Flyers finished off a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins, their fourth straight win and sixth straight at home, continuing a recent push that has them drawing closer to playoff position.
Wednesday's game marked the official halfway point of the season for the Flyers. At 19-15-7, the Flyers have 45 points and sit just two points out of a wildcard spot that would put them in the playoffs.
"I think this team fights hard for one another," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "I think they stick together. I think we have to, and what we’ll do, is continue to concentrate on ways that we can improve on what we’re doing. In the short term, fight hard for every two points. That’s how I would evaluate our first half. We’re battling hard and we have to keep battling hard, and keep getting better."
"Obviously, every game for us is huge," Jake Voracek said. "We’ve got to stay in the hunt. Especially the next few games are against division opponents so we have to make sure we stay with it and play our hockey."
While the third period was the driving force of the Flyers win, it was the second period that really set everything up.
The Flyers had played a fairly solid first period despite getting outshot 8-5. In the second, they allowed the Bruins to take the edge. Puck battles were lost. There were mental lapses, none bigger than the Bruins goal at "even strength" when the Flyers actually were a man short because of a bad line change. And as the teams went to the locker room, a change in momentum was needed.
"These are games that test you as players going into the third period," Steve Mason said. "Kind of a must win for us. A team we’re chasing down our goal. Guys worked hard for some greasy goals and it pays off."
The Flyers got it at the 7:27 mark of the third. Brandon Manning took an unfortunate delay of game penalty, breaking up a play by deflecting a puck out of play. The Flyers killed it off against the NHL's top power play. 43 seconds after killing the penalty, the Flyers tied the game. 1:22 after that, they took the lead.
"I think we got outplayed in the second period, and we came in down one goal and we didn’t panic at all," Voracek said. "We knew that we had to be patient and something was going to go our way and it did.
"You play the full 60 minutes because you never know what’s going to happen we fortunately have a great rush with Simmonds to tie it up," Mason said. "Again, just hard work paying off on that third goal. You play 60 minutes for a reason and regardless of how the games going you just have to stick with it."
Special teams remained a problem for the Flyers, particularly with the absence of Shayne Gostisbehere. But that penalty kill proved to be the change in momentum.
That said, the way the Flyers managed to tie and take the lead was with two goals that displayed the edge, speed and will to stay with the play.
Wayne Simmonds got the tying goal in typical Simmonds fashion. On a two-on-one with Voracek, Simmonds drove the net and took a shot, then stayed with the play to pick up the rebound.
On the next shift for the top line, it was Streit who jumped into the play to form a brief 4-on-2. As the Flyers forced the puck to the net, Streit was there for another rebound.
The top line accounted for all three goals — with Claude Giroux and Voracek getting three points — and all three were on rebounds.
"That line, just like each of our other lines, has got a job to do each and every night," Hakstol said. "I know their expectations are to go out and provide offense each and every night, but most importantly like the rest of our team, we’ve got to go out, play the right way, and sometimes that means taking what the game gives you. Tonight was their turn to step up and make a difference when we needed it."
"That’s one thing we told each other against the Islanders. We had chances to score, we just didn’t put it in," Giroux said. "It’s about having confidence, and that chemistry of all three of us playing together, being on the same page and tonight we did a better job of supporting each other."
Eight days ago, the Flyers took the ice following a three-game losing streak on the west coast needing a quick turnaround to get back on a potential playoff track. Since then, they have rolled off four straight wins, each one becoming more and more impressive.
Whether it's totally dominating the New York Islanders or grinding out a one-goal win against Montreal or Boston, the Flyers have shown and proven that they might just be able to hang with the top teams in the East already. And it couldn't come at a more crucial time.
"Two or three months ago, this game would have maybe ended up on a different note, but I think we have improved a lot in the last little while," Streit said. "We just keep playing. We don’t lose faith. We keep working hard and we stick with the game plan. Then it pays off eventually. Same with tonight. All those upcoming games are probably going to be treated the same way and we need to play our best hockey in order to get points."
"I think this team fights hard for one another," Hakstol said. "I think they stick together. I think we have to, and what we’ll do, is continue to concentrate on ways that we can improve on what we’re doing. In the short term, fight hard for every two points. That’s how I would evaluate our first half. We’re battling hard and we have to keep battling hard, and keep getting better."
We’ve still got a long way to go. We’ve got certainly a lot of battles in front of us. Like I said, short term mentality. We’ve found a way to get the two points tonight when we probably weren't at our best. We have to turn the page and be a little better next time out and concentrate on that next opportunity.”
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
