The Flyers win on Tuesday night was important for two reasons.
For one, they needed to stop the bleeding that was three straight losses on the West coast. They needed points. They earned two in regulation with a strong showing in a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Secondly, the Flyers needed to open a stretch of games all throughout January, but now much more frequent, against difficult opponents.
Last season, this is where the Flyers shined and it was no different on Tuesday.
"There are a lot of ways for you to contribute but for our team that is the formula for success," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "Everyone needs to chip in and do their part whether it is getting on the scoreboard or winning a faceoff, blocking a shot, killing a penalty. We have to get contributions from everybody. I think it is real important, especially for us coming off a road trip."
"It’s never easy going from west coast to east coast and playing a few days later with the time change and everything like that," Brayden Schenn said. "Usually if you come off a road trip like that, usually you’re a little sluggish to start but how tonight went we came out with a lot of jump. We out shot them in the first period and kind of continued it from there."
The Flyers got goals from Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere, Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier. It's certainly telling that Schenn and Simmonds were the most vocal about the way the team played out west and responded with goals.
Gostisbehere, who also assisted on Simmonds goal, also needed a game like this. The road trip featured several firsts for the rookie — first penalty minutes, first real extensive losing streak with the team — and he was certainly part of the equation. For him, those were rookie mistakes. For the rest, they are those head-scratching moments that make you wonder what they were doing on the ice to begin with.
But as a 22-year-old, it's hard to have three games like that and not see a shift in confidence. Gostisbehere was a different player after returning to the scoresheet and it seemed as though a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
“I was just keeping it simple and just doing what my specialties are, just shooting the puck and as a collective group we did really well," Gostisbehere said. "It’ll get you going for sure if you’re scoring a goal, you get a little excited, but you got to stay within yourself, not get too excited and just keep playing simple."
While the Flyers new-look top line didn't factor into any even-strength scoring, there was also a renewed energy there. Claude Giroux, now paired up with Simmonds and Jake Voracek, definitely had some added jump to his game.
"I thought all four lines played well," Simmonds said. "We had to switch between the first and second line and do a little line juggling there. The second line played unbelievable tonight. I thought we had our fair share of chances as well, and the rest of the guys played well tonight too."
Consistency has been a long-standing problem for the Flyers in recent years, and if the Flyers fail to make the playoff again this season, it will be once again.
For the Flyers, the similarities to last season's post-Christmas struggle are now a thing of the past. That team lost five straight, and in a matter of 10 days. This year, the Flyers have just four games played since the break and are now looking forward after getting the all-important first win.
Now it's time to see if they can change the course, unlike last year's team, and finish off a push that will certainly involve a lot of their opponents, making each game a crucial one.
Next stop, Minnesota. Then it's three straight and four of the next five from the comforts of home.
"We’ve got to be a good home team," Simmonds said. "If we’re going to make the playoffs obviously we have to be a good road team too. But we want to make it miserable on teams coming in here night in and night out. I thought we did a good job of that tonight."
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
