The Philadelphia Flyers have two games remaining on their seven-game homestand. The club has gone 3-1-1 so far and has picked up back-to-back wins for the first time since they earned three consecutive wins from January 9 to 14 (4-0 road win in Buffalo and a home-and-home sweep of Washington).
Friday Forecheck: The "Foers"
The Philadelphia Flyers have two games remaining on their seven-game homestand
The Flyers are too far out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference for wins and losses to have much big-picture bearing beyond John Tortorella's team continuing to build cohesion and value competitiveness for the long haul. That's what the coach himself cares about and what the players in the dressing room -- playing for solidified roster spots, new contracts or personal pride in the wake of a tumultuous season -- try to focus upon.
As far as NHL Draft Lottery odds go, the Flyers are currently 7th (a 6.5 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick) with 11 games remaining on the schedule.
Tortorella has stated on many occasions that he's primarily using the NHL stretch drive as a roster evaluation tool to see which players he sees as part of the solution moving forward and which ones -- including both veterans and younger players -- he will recommend that interim general manager Danny Briere and the organization move on from this offseason if possible.
"For me, the next step with this organization is that you don't start adding players until you subtract players," Tortorella said. "I think there needs to be some subtraction. Those will be in discussions at the end of the year."
Highlight of the Week: Foerster's First and Second NHL Goals
At some point, the Flyers will re-assign 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster back to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms in order for him to gain experience in late stretch drive and (hopefully) playoff games. When that happens remains to be seen -- the Flyers' season concludes on April 13 while Phantoms finish their regular season schedule two days later -- but it's coming.
In the meantime, the 21-year-old Foerster will try to build upon what has been a strong start to his NHL career. Prior to his NHL arrival, he put in a lot of work not only on his skating (which will never be his strongest suit but is at least adequate_ but also on his overall 200-foot game, off-puck play and effectiveness in 50-50 puck battles.
Foerster is not a finished product yet but the upside is there to be an effective NHL player who can contribute in various ways. His shooting ability has never been in question and he's always had good ice vision and underrated passing skills.
Over the past week, Foerster has notched his first and second goals in the NHL. Both were scored on excellent shots, but there was more to them than just the player's ability to fire the puck.
Goal No. 1 (March 18 vs. Carolina): The Flyers went end-to-end in transition on this play. Morgan Frost worked a give-and-go with Foerster on a 2-on-1 opportunity. Foerster had two options: shoot or make a return pass to Frost.
"I was thinking pass, to be honest, but I saw their D got his stick in the [passing] lane. I didn't want to risk trying to sauce [saucer pass] it to Frosty so I shot and, luckily, it went in," Foerster said the next day.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen was uncertain of what Foerster would do -- the Flyers' rookie disguised it well -- and got caught in between as Foerster unleashed a perfectly placed shot over the goalie's pad and under his arm.
Foerster had to survey what was in front of him, make a very quick decision and then execute well on the ensuing shot. He made the right read, telegraphed nothing and then the player's skill took over. Credit also goes to Frost for a good lead pass to send Foerster into the offensive zone and for driving through the slot to give Foerster a second option on the play.
Ultimately, though, if Foerster hadn't finished it off, the lead up sequence would have been quickly forgotten as just another near-miss play in the course of the game. Foerster turned it into something memorable.
Goal No. 2 (March 24 vs. Minnesota): As slick as Foerster's first goal was, his second was even nicer. The timing -- the very next shift after the Wild took a 4-3 lead in the latter half of the third period -- couldn't have been much more dramatic, either.
In the neutral zone, Frost passed in stride to Tony DeAngelo, who gained a controlled entry into the Minnesota zone, and sent the puck to Foerster on the right wing. It was nicely done but a routine sequence up to this point with Foerster above the right circle and outside the dot.
From there, though, Foerster maneuvered himself into a more favorable shooting angle in the circle. He cradled the puck and unleashed a picture-perfect rising wrist shot into the net off the far side post. No goalie -- not future Hockey Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury or anyone else -- was going to stop this one.
Something else that made the goal especially gratifying. Back in the first period, Foerster had a point blank scoring chance on a sequence that was almost a carbon copy of a goal linemate Brendan Lemieux scored on Saturday against Carolina: Frost took the puck away from the goalie behind the net and centered into the slot with a wide open net. On this occasion, a defender (Alex Goligoski) made a goal-saving shot block. All Foerster could do was look skyward.
Later in the night, Foerster got his revenge. Jon Merrill was the defenseman against whom Foerster moved in and found a better shooting angle. All Merrill and defense partner Goligoski could do was look on in dismay as the puck pinged off the post and in,
Through his first six NHL games, Foerster has posted five points (2g, 3a). He will bring a four-game point streak into Saturday afternoon's game against Detroit.
During the homestand, the Flyers have two different lines (Joel Farabee-Noah Cates-Owen Tippett and the Lemieux-Frost-Foerster trio) and various defensemen (Travis Sanheim, DeAngelo, Ivan Provorov and Rasmus Ristolainen) creating offense with regularity. Whether it lasts or not remains to be seen.
In the games since Tortorella put the line together, Foerster has found quick chemistry with Frost and Lemieux beyond the two goals that Foerster himself has scored.
Frost's empty-net goal against Florida was made possible by a Foerster blocked shot and pass that sent the center in alone for a tap-in goal. Meanwhile, on Lemieux's slam-dunk against Carolina started with Foerster (who did not get an assist due to the puck possession change) getting the puck in deep to create a forechecking opportunity.
Four for Farabee
After enduring a 26-goalless drought in which he had a slew of scoring chances in the final handful of games, the dam has burst for Joel Farabee. He has now scored a goal in four straight games.
Three of the goals were deflections, while one was a rebound slam dunk from the doorstep. The common denominator: Farabee went to the net on each play. There was some puck luck involved -- such as one against Florida that went off Farabee's hip and re-directed into the net -- but it was self-made luck by being in the right place.
"Playing with Catesy and Tip, you know Tip is going to shoot it," Farabee said after the Florida game. "They had a good cycle going on, especially on that one. Got lucky, hit me on the pants and went in. Back to what I was saying, we grinded them out and when you do that over time, you are going to get some bounces."
Even before the goals started coming again, Farabee was right on the brink of a breakthrough. He hit a post, got robbed by excellent saves or narrowly missed the target various times. He took subtle steps in the right direction on March 1 against the Rangers and a big step forward on March 5 against Detroit, where he had no fewer than four Grade A chances.
It was only a matter of time. That time finally came on March 17 against the Sabres. Although Farabee downplayed it after the game, getting a notch in the goal column again was a huge weight off his shoulders. Since then, he's been able to just play the game.
The same can be said for defenseman Sanheim. He had a breakout game, scoring twice, in the Sabres game and then carried it over into the Minnesota game on Thursday.
Youth movement afoot
It's no secret that goals have been hard for the Flyers to come by overall this season and throughout the month of March. The ongoing absence of leading scorer Travis Konecny due to an upper-body injury (13 games and counting) has been a major issue.
That said, the Flyers have scored plenty during the current homestand: a combined 23 goals over the last five games (4.60 GPG) with five-plus regulation goals scored in four straight games.
For the most part, it's been the Flyers contingent of players age 24 or younger who've led the way offensively during the current homestand. We've already discussed Foerster and Farabee.
Against Buffalo last Friday, Owen Tippett notched the first hat trick of his NHL career and also cracked the 20-goal milestone for the first season of his still-young NHL career (notching goals 19, 20 and 21).
On Saturday against Carolina, the Flyers received multi-point efforts from Foerster (1st career NHL goal, 2nd career assist), Cates (5-on-3 power play goal, one assist), Tippett (one primary assist and one secondary assist), and Frost (two nicely executed primary assists). Twenty-seven-year-old Lemieux supplemented the younger forwards' contributions with a goal and the secondary assist on Foerster's goal.
In Tuesday's game against Carolina, the Flyers received multi-point games from Sanheim (2g), Farabee (1g, 1a), Frost (1g, 1a), Foerster (2a), Noah Cates (2a), and Egor Zamula (2a). Provorov (1g), Laughton (1g), Lemieux (1a, 17 PIM), and DeAngelo (1a) chipped in one point apiece as 10 different Philly players got on the scoresheet.
On Tuesday against Florida, the two main stories from an offensive standpoint were the effective activation of defensemen into the offensive attack and the night being another match in which young Flyers' forwards played a leading role.
Playing through a minor injury, Tippett (who took a maintenance day on Monday after initially coming out for the start of practice) did not seem to have his usual extra gear and did not get on the scoresheet against Florida or Minnesota. However, he was plus-three in the Florida game with two shots on goal, five shot attempts (two missed the net, one blocked) and two credited hits.
On a full-season basis, the top end of the Flyers' scoring leaderboard still mostly features veteran players. Konecny, who celebrated his 26th birthday on March 11, paces the club with 54 points in just 52 games played. TK has a team-high 27 goals and is tied for second on the club with 27 assists.
Kevin Hayes, age 30, leads the Flyers in assists with 34, and is still second on the team in overall scoring with 51 points (17g, 34a) in 70 games played.
However, much the NHL All-Star Game selection's production took place before the All-Star break: 10 points in games in October (1g, 9a), 14 points in 15 games in November (7g, 7a) and, after a dip in December, 15 points in 14 games (6g, 9a) in January. Since the All-Star break, Hayes has posted a modest six points (2g, 4a) in the club's last 20 games.
For the season, Scott Laughton's 39 points (17g, 22a) are tied with Tippett (21g, 18a) and 27-year-old DeAngelo (10g, 29a, 39 points) for third on the team.
However, when one looks at the way the season has trended as it has gone along, what emerges is a picture of the younger contingent on the Flyers' roster taking on a bigger share of responsibilities as the season has progressed. This has been especially true since the Flyers ended a 10-game winless streak in November that stretched into a spell with just two wins in 15 games.
Since then, over the Flyers' last 45 games, Konecny leads the team in scoring (17 goals, 31 points in 31 GP). However, the team leaderboard in that span is increasingly composed of the team's younger players.
Twenty-three-year-old Frost (11g, 19a, 30 points) is tied with Laughton (14g, 16a) for second on the team in points over the last 44 games. Tippett (14g, 14a, 28 points) is just two points behind Frost and Laughton.
Cates (8g, 15a, 23 points) is a single point behind Hayes and three behind DeAngelo from Dec. 9 onward. Meanwhile, despite having to work through offensive droughts, both Farabee (7g, 9a, 16 points) and defenseman Cam York (1g, 13a, 14 points) have their names within the team's top 10 point-getters in that span.
The trend is even more pronounced since the All-Star break. Despite the team-wide scoring woes, there are signs of hope in terms of young players taking on larger roles:
Over the last 20 games, Tippett leads the Flyers in scoring with 11 points (7g, 4a) along with Frost (4g, 7a, 11 points). Cates (3g, 7a) is tied with Laughton (5g, 5a) for third in points. As noted earlier, Foerster is up to six points and Farabee has a four-game goal streak.
It's a start. By no means are these eye-popping numbers. There's a lot of room for improvement and further growth, which will be desperately needed moving forward. Looking below the surface, however, there is a definite youth movement afoot and the younger players are showing at least glimpses of promise to bear heavier burdens moving forward beyond this season.
Phantoms File
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (31-25-6) remain in fifth place in the American Hockey League's Atlantic Division but things have gotten mighty tight with the Phantoms going 0-3-0 in their last three games.
The sixth-place Bridgeport Islanders -- presently holding the final playoff spot -- are within two points of the Phantoms. Meanwhile, below the playoff cutoff line, the seventh-place Hartford Wolf Pack hold a game in hand (they will host the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday) and can pull within a single point of the Phantoms by Saturday.
This weekend, the Phantoms will visit the last-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday. The Baby Pens dealt the Phantoms a 5-2 home loss this past Sunday, and Lehigh Valley cannot allow that to happen again. On Sunday, the Phantoms are on the road to play the Hershey Bears (37-16-7), who have dominated Lehigh Valley in the season series this year.
