These Philadelphia Flyers were not guaranteed to make the playoffs, and most would have expected them to miss by a fairly wide margin before this season began. But here they are, just days away from playing Game 1 against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins in what should be a highly entertaining series. But there are still some big questions prior to that all-important first playoff game for this iteration of the Flyers.
Because, like we mentioned, they weren’t necessarily supposed to be here. This isn’t a team who is heading into their sixth consecutive playoff berth full of players in their prime who are ready to try and break through into a conference final, or something. It’s a group led by youth and then established, smart veterans who helped supplement this team and prevent some inexperience to shine through.
Hopefully, though, we find out some answers.
How will the goaltending hold up?
The main narrative surrounding exactly why the Flyers have found themselves in the playoffs is the goaltending. Dan Vladar has turned into exactly what this team has needed for years and years, and now we get to see what a team looks like with someone that is capable of providing above-average performances in between the pipes.
With that being said, there is still a whole lot of inexperience. Vladar has appeared in two playoff games and has zero starts. That’s it. The 28-year-old netminder is swimming into unknown waters as the starter in the playoffs and Philadelphia will need him to keep them afloat during some periods. While there are other attributes of this team that can be leaned on to will them to some wins, if the Flyers want to even stand a chance, Vladar is desperately needed to continue being one of the 10 best goaltenders this season.
And, well, if Vladar is ever unavailable, then Sam Ersson will be playing for his life in the Philadelphia crease. But that’s a nightmare scenario we don’t even want to think about.
Can the Flyers’ offensive depth overcome the lack of star power?
The overwhelming difference between the Flyers and the Penguins is just who is leading the respective forward groups. On one side you have a couple first-ballot Hall-of-Famers who have been here several times and want to go on one last ride together. On the other, no one really knows who exactly the best forward of the bunch is, honestly.
But that can be the Flyers’ advantage.
Compared to the Penguins, the Flyers have so much more scoring power throughout their lineup. Considering that Matvei Michkov is on the third line with someone who has really been on a scoring tear in Noah Cates, and one of Denver Barkey or Alex Bump, that’s some actual skill down there. But, can that depth and unrelenting waves of actual scoring talent, be enough to counterbalance the fact that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin exist?
It all depends on whether they play a weak-link game or a strong-link game and who can step up in the times the Flyers need them to.
How will the young guys step up?
Speaking of stepping up, maybe the biggest question of them all is the mystery of just what the handful of young players on the Flyers is going to look like. Are there any who might view the playoffs as the time that really fits what they have going on? Or, could they shrink down in a heated environment and maybe appear less willing to play the game on the biggest stage?
By the end of this series we might have more knowledge about which young players are capable of playing a more playoff-style game and that could tell us a lot about potential success in the Flyers’ future.
Whether it is Michkov continuing his hot streak, Porter Martone looking dominant right out of college, Denver Barkey being annoying as hell, Alex Bump potting in a couple clutch goals, or even the likes of Trevor Zegras truly appearing like a playoff-ready center in his first postseason appearance — there are possibilities.
Can the recent power play success continue?
Over the last month, the Flyers’ power play has not been abysmal. We know, it’s hard to believe. So, can that continue?
Since the Flyers’ California road trip started on March 18, their power play has scored 11 goals on the 44 opportunities given to them. That 25 percent marker is better than anything we could’ve ever imagined. And the underlyings are good as well, which is nuts.
In the 72 minutes of power-play action during that time, they have a rate of 52.48 shots on goal per 60 minutes (12th in the NHL), 79.96 unblocked attempts per 60 (also 12th), 99.12 shot attempts per 60 (17th), and an astounding 12.85 expected goals for per 60 which is second in the entire NHL. That spells out that this success is truly earned and it isn’t just some player going on a crazy percentage bender.
Now, can the man advantage continue to perform like this? We hope so.
Will the defensive advantage show up?
One of the other advantages that the Flyers have over the Penguins is being able to actually limit an opposing team’s offense. They have just been so much better at that all season long — every single metric you can think of (shot attempts, expected goals, etc.) tells the story of the Flyers being able to limit scoring chances so much better than the Penguins over the last 82 games.
Hell, the Flyers are one of the best teams in regards to expected goals against, with just 2.43 xGA/60, which sits at third in the entire NHL this season — only the Senators and Golden Knights were able to be better. Meanwhile the Penguins sit at 23rd with 2.90 xGA/60. That is a sizeable advantage.
Now, we just need that to be evident in the playoffs. Because it will not sit right with so many Flyers fans if a blue line made up of the rotten corpse of Kris Letang, a rejuvenated Erik Karlsson (who still doesn’t care about defense), and the likes of Ryan Shea and Connor Clifton, are able to be better defensively than everyone that the Flyers have on their back end.
While the Penguins can boast about their legends up front, they can’t help it if their blue line is full of so many holes that it won’t really matter. That’s what the Flyers can take advantage of and hopefully we find out that it is reality.