The Philadelphia Flyers are in serious trouble. With
twenty-one games left in their season the Flyers find themselves three points
outside of a playoff position, and to make matters worse, the team they’re
chasing, the New York Rangers, have played two less games giving them a
comfortable lead. The Flyers plays New Jersey (another team that is struggling)
tonight and some players believe these next two games against the Devils will
decide the fate of their season.
“You lose both games; you done...you’d be eight points
behind...and not many games to catch up. It would be very, very difficult.”
said Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who for most of the year has been a
bright spot on a mediocre team. “It’s not going to depend on you, it’s going to
depend more on other teams than you. That’s the importance of these games.”
Bryzgalov is right, if the Flyers don’t come away with two
wins then they’re putting their fate into the hands of the every team in the
East because each team only plays other teams within their conference meaning
that each game could put some other organization into playoff contention. This is not a
road that the Flyers want to take but it could be the one they’re forced to go
down.
It’s been a roller coaster season for Philadelphia who are seventh
in scoring and thirteenth in goals allowed in the East. They’ve had hot and
cold streaks but what has been most discerning is that when they’ve needed to
win crucial games, like last week’s game against the Rangers, they’ve come up
flat. They most recently ended a three game losing skid against Buffalo, that cost them a
playoff spot, but heading into tonight’s game there’s no telling
what team is going to be on the ice. The high flying, offensive team that the
NHL has come accustomed to seeing, or the slow moving, low scoring team that
people have seen all season. One thing is for sure, Bryzgalov will be starting
his league leading twenty-sixth game, and he may just decide the fate of the Flyers season.
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