VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 The Flyers’ 2025-26 season has been an interesting one because it can be viewed in a few ways.<\/p>\n
Some might see it as a team that’s stuck in the middle \u2014 not bad enough for a premier draft pick, but not good enough for a legitimate playoff run.<\/p>\n
Others might see it as a rebuilding team that has progressed from last season, taking strides like it had envisioned<\/a> under a new head coach.<\/p>\n Despite losing 12 of their last 15 games going into the Olympic break<\/a>, the Flyers have kept things interesting.<\/p>\n “When you look at the season, I think if you can take out that kind of middle stretch where you lose a bunch of games, those are hard to get out of,” Travis Sanheim said Saturday after morning skate. “Besides that, I’ve liked a lot of our play, we’ve played well against some good teams, have shown that we have a good hockey team and can play against anyone and win, really, any game.”<\/p>\n The Flyers have won six of their last eight games and entered Saturday five points back of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with 17 games to go. As they host the Blue Jackets (7:30 p.m. ET\/NBCSP), one of the teams they’re chasing, they’re aware of the crowdedness in the East.<\/p>\n “Right now, all we can control is ourselves, playing good hockey, winning games and we’ll see what happens,” Sanheim said. “We know we have it tough, obviously there are a lot of teams in the race and we’ve got to catch a bunch of teams, so really all we can control is how we perform.”<\/p>\n Two nights ago, the Flyers picked up a 3-2 shootout win on the road over the Wild<\/a>, one of the top clubs in the Western Conference. The West, while top-heavy, is not nearly as deep as the East. In fact, the Flyers would have a four-point cushion on the West’s second wild-card spot right now. If they played in the Pacific Division, they’d be just two points out of first place. They’d actually be in third place of that division via the tiebreaker of fewer games played.<\/p>\n The Flyers probably don’t care much about that. But they do see more positives in their season than perhaps the critics do at this point. They’re 31-23-11 in Year 1 under Rick Tocchet after going 33-39-10 last season<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I just don’t listen to the outside noise,” Tocchet said. “The guys have done a nice job being resilient, winning the last couple of games. Going into Minny, I’m sure people had that as a loss.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Saturday night provides the Flyers with another meaningful game on home ice.<\/p>\n “Listen, every game is important,” Tocchet said. “For me, it’s a playoff game. We have to act like it’s a playoff game, regardless of the circumstances.<\/p>\n