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After a thrilling yet oh-so annoying overtime win vs. Arizona on Thursday night, the Flyers look to win two in a row over the Chicago Blackhawks in today’s Saturday matinee. In their last five games, the Flyers have acquired nine out of a possible 10 points and all of a sudden sit just two points out of a tie for first in the Metropolitan Division. Sure, that is mostly due to the sheer lack of competence in the Metro, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.
The Hawks, meanwhile, are coming off firing their longtime head coach Joel Quenneville, and a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. Chicago’s current state of transition would seemingly make the Flyers the favorites in this one, but with this team, one can never really know. The Hawks still have plenty of offensive firepower with the likes of Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, and of course their captain in Jonathan Toews. Chicago sits second to last in the Western Conference at the moment, but only have two fewer points than the Flyers. Early season hockey, folks.
Now, let’s take a look at what the Flyers can do to quite possibly be in a tie for first in the division, by the end of today.
1. Exploit Chicago’s defense
During their three cups from 2010-2015, one of the major points of emphasis for why the Hawks were so successful was their defense. In two out of their three cup winning seasons, they allowed the fewest goals in the league, with the other season allowing the fifth fewest. Last season however, the Hawks finished 22nd out of 31 teams in goals allowed and so far this season, they are 29th out of 31 teams. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are showing their age, and the Blackhawks do not have the quality depth defensemen they once excelled with. The goalies for Chicago in Corey Crawford and Cam Ward have certainly been poor, but their defense is doing them absolutely no favors.
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