Flyers explode in 2nd period for longest win streak since 2020-21 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers erupted for five second-period goals Thursday night and ended up cruising to a season-best fourth straight win.
John Tortorella’s club kept the offense coming as it rolled the Coyotes, 6-2, at the Wells Fargo Center.
When you consider the outburst, the win streak and Carter Hart making his return, it was a very good night for the organization.
“Unbelievable second period by us,” Hart said. “I think this is one of our best games of the year as a team.”
The Flyers (15-17-7) have won four consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 26-31, 2021.
They’ve been absolutely desperate for a string of positivity after last season’s nightmarish 25-46-11 season.
Goals and goaltending help.
Prior to the NHL-mandated holiday break, the Flyers had won just four of their previous 23 games (4-14-5), a stretch in which they scored 2.48 goals per game.
Following the break, they’ve gone 4-0-0 and have scored 4.50 goals per game.
Three of the victories have come against clubs below them in the standings.
“We talk about rebuilding, all the language, all the articles written about what this team is, what it’s supposed to be, people pissed off, tank, all this stuff that’s being talked about — all players want to do is win,” Tortorella said Thursday morning. “That’s how they qualify themselves. To get a few wins in a row, it’s good for them.”
The Flyers went 1-0-1 against the Coyotes (13-19-5) this season.
• The second period was a pretty dominant 20 minutes from the Flyers. They trailed 1-0 at first intermission and went into second intermission holding a 5-2 lead.
Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, Wade Allison, Ivan Provorov and Kevin Hayes all scored goals in a span of under 13 and a half minutes.
During first intermission, Hayes was named to his first-ever All-Star Game, which will take place Feb. 4 in Sunrise, Florida.
Hayes finished with a three-point performance against Arizona (one goal, two assists).
“It’s awesome. Kevin’s been great in this league for a long time and has done a lot of good things,” Konecny said. “He deserves to be there. He has been carrying a lot of the offense for most of this year and doing a lot of good things.
“Everyone’s happy for him and he’s a good guy in the locker room, so you know he’s going to be loved when he’s there, too.”
With four assists, Morgan Frost put up his second four-point game in the last three-plus weeks.
“It’s growing for him,” Tortorella said. “He’s got to keep going. Two or three weeks doesn’t make it, but certainly he seems more confident with the puck.
“From a coach’s point of view, I just think he’s fighting harder for pucks. … That’s the part of the game that he needs to continue to work at.”
Konecny (one goal, two assists) joined Hayes with a three-point night.
After scoring 16 goals last season, Konecny already has 20 through 33 games this season.
James van Riemsdyk snagged a goal himself during the third period, giving the Flyers their most in a game this season.
For the present and the big picture, the Flyers have to like what they’ve seen over the last four games from their team.
“It’s a tough league to win in no matter who you play,” Tortorella said. “We’re certainly not going to go in the backdoor and say it’s because of weaker opponents. I think our game has grown as a team.”
• Hart was back in net for his first start since Dec. 22 after recovering from an upper-body injury.
“Hartsy’s the foundation of this team,” Hayes said Thursday morning. “We go as far as he goes.
“It’s nice to have him back. He has been great all year. He always gives us a chance to win every night.”
The 24-year-old received plenty of run support, which made his return a relatively low-key, stress-free one.
He made 21 saves.
“It was my first concussion,” Hart said of his injury. “Didn’t really know what to expect of it, how to go through with it, the process and everything. Trusted [the medical staff] on what to do and some of the other guys who have gone through it. Just took things day by day.”
Samuel Ersson, who went 3-0-0 on the Flyers’ three-game California road trip, backed up Hart.
Felix Sandstrom was sent to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley for a conditioning stint. The move delays the Flyers’ decision on Hart’s backup moving forward.
“This works out really in the two-week conditioning that Sandy gets, he can play a ton of minutes down there,” Tortorella said Thursday morning. “He was sick, we had the break, Ers came in and has played well and deserved to play the games he played. We’ve got to get Carter back in. I think the whole two-week situation here really works out well.”
Coyotes netminder Karel Vejmelka, who beat the Flyers last month, surrendered six goals on 34 shots this time.
• Former Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere, in his second season with Arizona, played in his 500th career NHL game Thursday night.
• The Flyers are scheduled to practice Saturday in Voorhees, New Jersey before welcoming the Maple Leafs on Sunday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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