A Disastrous Weekend For The Flyers

What could have been a weekend to separate the Flyers from the bottom half of the Metro division, it could not have gone much worse.

A tough matchup against the first place New York Rangers and the final meeting against the cross state rival Pittsburgh Penguins. Coming into the weekend we were all hoping for at least 2 out of 4 points would’ve been thrilled with 3 out of 4 and would have been planning the parade if they had gotten 4 of 4.

But instead they come away with 0 out of a possible 4, an injured defenseman, and a clear need for a better backup goaltender.

In all fairness the Flyers probably deserved a point in Saturday’s game against the Rangers. They outplayed them for most of the game and even did it without Travis Konecny. It was a tough physical battle that felt like a playoff game. A much better showing then the last time the Flyers played the Rangers but still not the result they hoped for. We were also treated to what might have been the fight of the year between Rangers rookie Matt Rempe and Nic Deslauriers.

Rempe was the difference in this game as he ended up scoring the game winning goal off a deflection that Ersson had zero chance to see. They had some great chances to tie the game late but could not convert. While they showed they could hang with one of the Stanley Cup favorites they didn’t get the result.

Then we headed to Sunday…An afternoon game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with Cal Petersen in between the pipes. In the nicest way possible this game was an absolute shitshow. After jumping out to an early 1-0 lead the Penguins responded and got into the game. It was some of the ugliest hockey I’ve seen in a long time which I can give the Flyers a little slack because they had such a hard fought game just 24 hours before. The Penguins on the other hand just look like a bad hockey team. If it wasn’t for Cal Petersen looking like a complete f**king idiot in the net the Flyers likely win this game. But when your goalie is giving up goals like this… It’s hard to win.

This was just one example of how bad Petersen was yesterday. I don’t care that he won his last two games before Sunday, this guy doesn’t deserve to see another NHL start for this team until they are out of the playoff race. It was an absolutely pathetic display of goaltending and he should be sent to the minors immediately. Whether it’s Felix Sandstrom or going out and trading for a backup, the Flyers can not rely on Petersen to step in and win an important game down the stretch.

Unfortunately, Petersen’s play wasn’t the worst thing to come out of Sunday’s loss to the Penguins.

This hit on Jamie Drysdale may have ended his season. We do not know anything yet for sure but it does not look good for him. It is the same shoulder that was injured last season that kept him out for an extended period of time. Fingers crossed it isn’t that bad and maybe he just misses a few games but it’s the Flyers so it’ll probably be worse case scenario.

With Riso already out the Flyers blue line is looking less than ideal as we head into the trade deadline. Obviously this team is still rebuilding but they are currently in a playoff spot. So how do these injuries change the deadline plans? Do you try and move Seeler and Walker, do you move one and extend the other, or do you keep both and see where the team you have takes you.

These injuries could really effect the way that Briere and Jones handled the March 8th deadline. While the Flyers were nearly looking like a lock for the playoffs things have now gotten a lot less uncertain with only 23 games left in the season.

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-Walsh

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By Keith Walsh | February 26, 2024