Do The Flyers Have What It Takes To Make The Postseason?
On Wednesday night the Flyers played one of their best games since the 10-game winning streak back in December; a 4-0 win over the Penguins at home was an important win as they fight to make the postseason. The Flyers are five points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference heading into their matchup with the New Jersey Devils Thursday night. Despite Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn leading the NHL with 15 Power Play Goals each, the team's leader in Points is tied for 32nd the the league with 54, that is Jakub Voracek. Meanwhile, the team's Captain Claude Giroux has struggled all season tallying 14 Goals and 50 Points, both outside of the top 50 in the NHL in each statistical category.
Flyers Radio Analyst Steve Coates joined The Sports Bash on Wednesday and discussed the team's offensive struggles along with what they need to do to hope to make it back to the playoffs:
"Anybody will tell you that you are only as good as what you have in the middle. Right now, (their) Centers have not been producing and your centers are the ones who have to produce. If you take a look at most hockey clubs, I would bet you that the top two Centers on most hockey clubs are their leading scorers. I am not taking that away from Giroux right now because most of his points come from the power play. Has he played well? No, he has played a little better as of late, but he has not been the force he has been in the past. Filppula is still trying to find his legs as far as playing with the Philadelphia Flyers....The teams that are playoff teams are teams that have a hunger and a desperation. I haven't seen enough, I have seen some, but not enough desperation to be able to have the success that this team needs right now at this point.”
Hear what Coates had to say about perception of the team along with the future of the Goaltender position