Claude Giroux
It will be a quick turnaround for the Flyers, as it is going to be for most of the final 31 games in the regular season, and the Orange and Black get yet another challenge against a Top-10 team in the league. The Colorado Avalanche await as the Flyers make their return home.
The Flyers secured a 3-0 win 10 days ago against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and now will open up the second-half push to the playoffs by meeting the Penguins again, this time on the road.
With the recent struggles and inconsistencies over the last 10 games, the Philadelphia Flyers are looking for some resurgence in multiple areas of their game.
For years, a key member of the core of the team would represent the Flyers at the All-Star Game — usually Claude Giroux and occasionally Jake Voracek or Wayne Simmonds. At 22, Konecny enters the national spotlight with his first All-Star appearance, perhaps only scratching the surface of his potential.
At the end of a seven-game stretch that featured five of the top six teams in the league as of Wednesday morning’s standings, the Flyers came away with a 5-2-0 record. Against those five teams, they were 4-1-0 with the only loss being a 1-0 defeat to Tampa Bay. So forgive Alain Vigneault if he was in the mood to celebrate this win and going on a break the way it started.
The next chapter in the Battle of Pennsylvania has a lot at stake for both sides. The Penguins are challenging for the division lead, just four points behind the Capitals, while the Flyers look to go into the All-Star break and bye week on a high note.
Travis Konecny scored the first two goals of the game and James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists, helping to pace the Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers next game comes against another team outside of playoff position. The Los Angeles Kings come to town on Saturday night and it is a game the Flyers certainly feel the need to come away with a better result.
Claude Giroux noted that, while it’s no excuse, it can be tough to get up the next day and play another game, no matter the opponent. Alain Vigneault didn’t buy into the theory. “You know that word that starts with b?” the Flyers head coach said.
Fresh off a 3-1-0 stretch against four of the top six teams in the league, the Flyers face a team outside the playoff picture in the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
