Western Opponents Present Tough Test for Hurting Flyers

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Matt Mastrogiovanni, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

In the first 15 games of the season, the Flyers have already been dealing with their fair share of injuries. Defensemen Radko Gudas, Andrew MacDonald and Sam Morin all remain sidelined with injuries, while Shayne Gostisbehere just returned from a three-game absence. Forward Nolan Patrick rounds out the list of injured Philadelphia players.

In the midst of a four-day break, players could heal up and be ready to start to return the Flyers to better health, but that's to be determined. 

One thing that is a certainty for the Flyers is that they have a tough stretch of games coming up. Following a 4-2 win in Toronto on Oct. 28, the Flyers were slated to play their next 10 games against teams from the Western Conference. So far, the Flyers are 1-1-2 in the four games played. Their next six games against the West starts on Thursday night against Chicago and finally wraps on Nov. 21 against Vancouver.

Along the way, Philadelphia will face elite players in Patrick Kane, Patrik Laine, and Johnny Gaudreau.

As part of the Western stretch, Philadelphia will battle Minnesota in a home-and-home series as well as a road game in Winnipeg against the Jets. Luckily, only two of the six games are on the road so the Flyers will have their faithful cheering them on against some of the NHL's toughest.

To start the season, Philadelphia battled the some of the West's best and fared rather well. Aside from a shutout loss against the Kings on top of a wild and infuriating loss to the Predators, the Flyers nabbed wins against Anaheim and San Jose, both on the road. Each of the four teams have had their fare share of glory of late with the most recent being Nashville's incredible playoff run last season.

With an already Western Conference heavy schedule, Philadelphia's 4-5-2 record against teams outside the East isn't too shabby. Many know that the teams out West are big, fast and highly-skilled. That's not to say that the Eastern teams aren't similarly skilled, however, it's a different breed of hockey out west. 

Philadelphia has held its own against the opposing conference this season, with several of the losses being tight contests that could have tilted either way. A four-day break, the possible return of injured players, and full, 60-minute efforts can help the Flyers barrel their way through the upcoming stretch of games, something that will certainly be important as more of the season passes in the month of November.

Even if it's still considered early in the year, games like these have every bit as much an impact on the chances of making it to the postseason, so the Flyers will need complete efforts. Perhaps a bit of a break couldn't have come at a better time then, allowing the team to recharge and prepare for the tough road ahead.