Friday Forecheck: December 8, 2023

The Flyers were at a crossroads one week ago at this time. They'd just staged a late two-goal comeback against the New Jersey Devils the previous night at Wells Fargo Center but dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime. 

At that point, the Flyers fell to 11-10-2 on the season. They were still winless in games in which they didn't score first (note: the Flyers now sit at 10-1-0 in such games, and 2-9-2 when trailing first). Facing a home-and-home set with the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins, things could have gone south for the Flyers in the week that followed.

Instead, the Flyers have rattled off three straight wins: 4-3 (1-0) via shootout at PPG Paints Arena last Saturday, 2-1 in overtime against the Penguins at Wells Fargo Center on Monday, and a workmanlike 4-1 victory at Mullett Arena in Tempe on Thursday against an Arizona Coyotes club that brought a five-game winning streak into the match.

Now sitting in second place in the Metro, the Flyers (14-10-2) will face a tough test in the thin Colorado air as they face the Central Division leading Colorado Avalanche (16-8-2) on Saturday. Before that tilt, let's take a look at some of the notable happenings over the past week:

Flyers using the 'Foers' 

Tyson Foerster did not score a goal or record an assist in Thursday's game in Arizona, but he created a couple of top-end scoring chances for linemates and continued his outstanding play along the boards. Heading into Thursday's game, Foerster carried a three-game goal streak and four-game point streak. In that span, he collected six points (4g, 2a).

Among Foerster's four recent goals, two were on well-placed shots from the top of the left circle. The other two tallies were via deflections from the slot of shots (by Sean Walker and Scott Laughton) that originated from the point.

Foerster's power play goal last Saturday in Pittsburgh was especially encouraging, and not just because it gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead in the third period in a game they had trailed 1-0 and 2-1. 

Back in the first period, the Flyers had a power play opportunity in a still-scoreless game. Morgan Frost made a cross-ice feed to Foerster at the top of the left circle. Foerster gathered the pass and fired off a shot that Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry stopped. 

In the third period, a similar chance came around. From center point, Cam York rotated the puck over to Foerster in virtually the identical spot as the first period scoring chance. This time, Foerster hit the bullseye with a perfectly placed shot. No goalie was stopping this one.

At the time Foerster scored the power play goal in Pittsburgh, he was coming off a two-goal effort against New Jersey, but both of those were on deflections. He'd only shot one puck into the net up to that point during the season. A near-miss chance like the one in the first period could easily have produced a shot that missed the net wide or flew over the cage when a similar situation arose in the third period. Instead, Foerster showed tremendous confidence and poise to bury the next chance.

Two nights later, Foerster scored again with a nice shot from left flank, except that it came at even strength rather than the power play. The second period goal, Philly's lone tally in regulation, tied the score at 1-1.

Foerster has always been a self-confident young player but any player who goes through a spell of one goal in 20-plus games is prone to pressing when goal opportunities arise. That's especially true with younger players and unrelated to whatever else is going on with the player's overall game (which remained strong in Foerster's case, much to his credit). 

It's up to you, Cam York

Speaking of young players with sky-high confidence, defenseman Cam York has been thriving -- on both sides of the puck -- on the Flyers top pairing with Travis Sanheim this season. That doesn't mean either player individually -- or the pairing as a tandem -- have been immune to some hiccups on isolated shifts or a bad game here and there. 

It does mean, though, that when mistakes or a bad game do spring up, both players have done a good job at simply putting it in the rearview mirror immediately and pressing forward. With defensemen especially, that's half the battle.

York's combination of mobility, a quick defensive stick and strong outlet passing have been one of the main areas of improvement that have had a positive impact on the team this season. Sanheim has rightfully been given a lot of credit, but don't sleep on how well the 22-year-old York has been playing in what's still his first full season in the NHL. Keep in mind that York spent the first one-third of last season and all but 30 games of the 2021-22 campaign in the American Hockey League. 

Now York is thriving. Flyers head coach John Tortorella voiced concern last week that York could "lose" the defensive growth he's shown if he worried too much about being a power play quarterback/ offensive contributor as his main identity. However, that fear seems to be unfounded.

The Flyers have recently given York the chance to run the point on the first power play unit. The unit, with York at center point, Sean Couturier down low, Foerster on the left flank, Travis Konecny in the bumper, and Frost on the right half boards, showed much improved puck movement and execution last Thursday against the Devils and Saturday in Pittsburgh. They produced three PPGs over the two games (the aforementioned two by Foerster and a rebound goal by Frost).

 It's too soon to say Philly has "turned the corner" on their long struggling power play. 

For one thing, the team only had one abbreviated power play in the last two games. At home against the Penguins, York was forced to take a penalty midway through to negate a Penguins' shorthanded scoring chance on a counterattack. It was not a bad penalty to take under the circumstances.  The Flyers did not have a single power play in Thursday's game in Arizona.

For another, the Flyers have had previous all-too-fleeting spells of two or three games both last season and this season where the power play seemed to be trending in a positive direction. Those inevitably proved to be a mirage, followed by another long 0-for drought. 

Even so, the early returns on the new PP1 alignment seem to be promising. The second unit remains very much in a state of experimentation and flux. 

In the meantime, York's offensive confidence seems to be growing along with his overall game. On Thursday in Arizona, he scored a slick even strength goal in Arizona to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead in the third period.  Check out this toe-drag by York: