The Flyers have notoriously been a slow starting team to open the season. Going back two seasons, the Flyers started out 6-7 through their first 13 games in 2018-19, and 6-5-2 through their first 13 games in 2019-20. Take for instance this season, the Flyers are 8-3-2 (Which is good for third place in the division with 18 points) through their first 13 games and are off to a slow start. The difference is they are winning games they should have lost, and have games in hand on both the New York Islanders (Second place with 19 points, 15 games played) and the Boston Bruins (First place with 22 points, 14 games played) in a tough East Division.
This year is a great slow start for the orange and black. Would fans rather have losses in the win column as opposed to wins? The answer is no, even though the Flyers are off to a slow start they for once are in the drivers seat looking ahead, as opposed to playing catch up.
Of course, this has been a weird season during the midst of a global pandemic featuring lots of postponements, however, most people expected some weirdness to happen this year. Look at the Flyers at the quarter pole, their defense has holes like a leaking water faucet, while their goaltending has been stellar for the most part. They also have had no trouble scoring and that is why this year is different from years past.
The Flyers can hang with most teams in the NHL because of goal scoring. They are tied for 6th in the league in goals per game at a clip of 3.5 per game. This stat alone will be a saving grace for this young Flyers team that has an average age of 27-years-old. To pair this great goal scoring with solid goaltending, they will win games they just are not supposed to win.
Many people have asked me if the Flyers are Stanley Cup contenders this season. My answer is an easy one…heck yea they are. This team will only get better, and a grade for this club as a team at the quarter pole is a B. The defense could use some improvement, although they were shoring this up in the two games prior to the recent postponements.
Fortunately, the Flyers are in the driver’s seat for once. Flyers fans are not accustomed to this. Usually at the quarter point of the season the Flyers are playing catch up, rather than them being the hunted. This year has been strange, but for once the Flyers are the hunted. That alone should make Flyers fans happy, and optimistic for the rest of the season that lies ahead.
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