Philly Flyers Looking to Rebuild With Young Team Despite Slow Start

     The Philadelphia Flyers started off their season with a victory against the LA Kings, winning the game with a score of 4-2. Sean Couturier scored twice in the game, with assists from Travis Konecny. In the second game of the season, the Flyers took a loss against the Arizona Coyotes, losing 4-3 in overtime. The Flyers tied up the game in the second and third periods, with team members Wayne Simmonds and Matt Read scoring, and goalie Steve Mason performing 31 saves. The Flyers took another loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 18, with a final score of 7-4. Marian Hossa of the Blackhawks became the 44th NHL player to score 500 goals, celebrating this achievement with a win for his team. After Hossa’s goal, the score became 4-0, which the Flyers came back from by scoring four straight goals, two of which were made by Matt Read. Despite the Flyers’ comeback and efforts throughout the remainder of the game, they unfortunately ended this game with a loss.

     The first game played in Philadelphia marked the first home game of the Flyers’ 50th-anniversary season. Prior to the game, Ed Snider was honored with a heartwarming ceremony, raising a banner bearing his name to the rafters of the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers’ home opener was against the Anaheim Ducks, who claimed their first victory of the season, with a final score of 3-2 against the Flyers. Even with Steve Mason’s 23 saves and goals by Wayne Simmonds and Matt Read, the Flyers were unable to gain a victory on Oct. 20. Flyers’ coach Dave Hakstol shared his remarks about the loss, saying, “We’re playing pretty good hockey. We lost a hard one tonight. There’s a lot of things we’d like to do better. When we wake up tomorrow, we’ll go right back to work with a confident group.” The Flyers did indeed go right back to work, and after a three-game losing streak, the Philadelphia Flyers were finally able to secure a win against the Carolina Hurricanes at their second home game of the season, winning with a final score of 6-3. The Flyers played a great game—Voracek, Gostisbehere, Simmonds, Manning and Read all scoring. Their efforts were accompanied by goalie Steve Mason making 27 saves throughout the game. The Flyers played a fantastic game and gained a well-deserved victory at the end of the night.

     The Philadelphia Flyers have many strong players this season, including familiar names such as Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere and Steve Mason. Travis Konecny, a rookie this year, has shown promising talent thus far in the season. Another rookie who is suspected to do well is Ivan Provorov. Both Konecny and Provorov are only 19-years-old, yet show an abundance of skill in the game of hockey and are projected to do many great things for the team this season. The Flyers have one of the youngest teams in Flyers’ history this year and have had a reasonable start to the season. With some effort and improvement from this point forward, the Flyers will hopefully be able to secure a spot in the playoffs again this year.

     Sources: CSNPhilly.com, NHL.com