{"id":108048,"date":"2021-04-25T10:06:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T14:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=108048"},"modified":"2021-04-25T09:46:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T13:46:26","slug":"philadelphia-flyers-hot-cold-streaks-april-18-24-brian-elliott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/04\/25\/philadelphia-flyers-hot-cold-streaks-april-18-24-brian-elliott\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia Flyers Hot and Cold Streaks: April 18 – 24, Including Brian Elliott"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each week, we will take a look at players on the Philadelphia Flyers who are on a hot or cold streak. This week, we\u2019ll examine Brian Elliott<\/a> and Kevin Hayes<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hot and Cold Streaks<\/b><\/h2>\n

Hot Streak: Brian Elliott<\/b><\/h3>\n

With Carter Hart<\/a> out due to a knee injury<\/a>, Brian Elliott shouldered most of the workload in net. Against the New York Islanders<\/a> on Sunday, Elliott remained extremely strong through regulation. With the game tied in the third period, he backstopped two penalty kills to force overtime. The only goal that got past Elliott took an unfortunate bounce off Travis Sanheim<\/a>\u2019s stick, making it impossible to predict and extremely difficult to stop.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elliott\u2019s second start came in the first game of the back-to-back against the New York Rangers<\/a>. During the first period – in which the Flyers as a whole played horrendously – he negated the vast majority of the team\u2019s errors and bought them time to pick up their performance. His 33 saves lifted the Flyers to a 3-2 win<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Together, those two starts constituted Elliott\u2019s best two-game stretch of the season. Why was he so strong this week, of all weeks? Scheduling was likely a significant factor. Heading into Sunday\u2019s game, Elliott\u2019s last start had been on April 13th. And a three-day break, unusual in this condensed season, gave him extra rest before the game against the Rangers. When given sufficient time to recharge between starts, Elliott can be an excellent netminder – and he certainly played to that standard this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cold Streak: Kevin Hayes<\/b><\/h3>\n

Kevin Hayes\u2019s cold streak is an unfortunate dilemma. On one hand, he logged an assist in Thursday\u2019s win against the Rangers, which is more than we\u2019ve seen from many Flyers. But his four penalty minutes led the team this week (excluding Laughton\u2019s five minutes for fighting). In Friday\u2019s game, a hooking call against Hayes resulted in a Chris Kreider goal to give the Rangers the early lead. It was the only power-play goal scored against the Flyers this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Penalties aside, Hayes also hasn\u2019t scored a goal in 13 games. The last time he scored a <\/span>single goal <\/span><\/i>was on March 29 against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. In that regard, this isn\u2019t just a cold streak that occurred this week. It\u2019s a cold streak that\u2019s been going on for a while and happened to continue into this week. Such a lack of offensive production – especially from a player who\u2019s getting top-six minutes on a line with two fast, energetic young talents – is disappointing, to say the least.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>