In games five through seven of the Philadelphia Flyers’ current homestand, losses abounded early on. Nevertheless, the team managed to finish the week on a high note. Tuesday brought a demoralizing shutout loss to the Edmonton Oilers, courtesy of Mikko Koskinen. On Thursday, the Minnesota Wild came to town, closing a one-goal Flyers lead four times before finally potting the game-winning goal.
However, the team refused to take a third consecutive loss, beating out the Chicago Blackhawks by a narrow one-goal margin. Through these three games, some players facilitated the team’s success. However, others did not perform quite so impressively. Each week, we’ll take a look at Philadelphia Flyers players who are on a hot or cold streak. This week, we’ll examine Kevin Hayes and Claude Giroux.
Be sure to check out the last Flyers Hot and Cold Streaks as well.
Hot and Cold Streaks, Including Kevin Hayes
Hot Streak: Kevin Hayes
Although Kevin Hayes only played the last game of the week, that actually helped him claim this week’s hot streak. After all, he had nothing to do with the Flyers’ initial losses. From a health standpoint, it was great to see him back on the ice. A few weeks ago, Hayes sitting out the rest of the season to avoid reaggravating an abdominal injury was not out of the realm of possibility. (General manager Chuck Fletcher gave him a “50/50” chance of returning to play.)
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Despite lingering concerns, Hayes showed few signs of rust in his first game since mid-January. He was limited to around 11 minutes against the Blackhawks (presumably to ease him back into the lineup), but made the most of the shifts he got. Hayes logged an assist on the opening goal, working along the boards to get a pass to Travis Sanheim, whose shot was deflected by Oskar Lindblom. He also recorded three shots of his own, tying the likes of Cam Atkinson and Travis Konecny for the lead in that regard.
As promising as it is to see Hayes recording a point in his first game back, the focus right now should be on his continued health. At the very least, the Flyers seem to be doing the right thing in taking a cautious approach with him. Once Hayes has distanced himself from this injury, he’ll be able to shoulder a heavier role and get more chances to drive offence.
Honorable Mention: Cam Atkinson
This week wasn’t smooth sailing for any Flyers player, and it was no different for Cam Atkinson. He was kept scoreless through the first two games, despite having Joel Farabee back on his line. But against the Chicago Blackhawks, things began to fall into place once again. Atkinson recorded two goals – one to tie the game at two and the other to give the Flyers the lead that would eventually become the win. He also logged a secondary assist on Derick Brassard‘s tally. Past the 20-goal mark with plenty of time left in the season, Atkinson is looking like he’ll prove to be the scoring threat the team had hoped he’d be.
Cold Streak: Claude Giroux
At the risk of the wrath of all Philadelphians, Claude Giroux is this week’s cold streak. That’s not to say that he played badly. In fact, he did very well in some often overlooked categories – for one, maintaining his exceptionally high faceoff percentage. However, Giroux logged just a single point through three games, which is highly unusual considering that he’s often the one carrying the Flyers’ lackluster offence.
Maybe being pitted against some of the league’s best (Connor McDavid and Kirill Kaprizov, for example) was enough of a challenge to dim Giroux’s usual preeminence. Maybe the opposing goalies or defences were simply spectacular (granted, there was Edmonton…so maybe not). Regardless of the reason for Giroux’s off week, it was clear that the Flyers offence struggled without his typical contribution. But on the bright side, he’s not one to let a cold streak extend for long, so there’s certainly plenty of reason to remain confident in him.
