It took a shootout in their final game, but the Philadelphia Flyers are in the playoffs. The Flyers won a thrilling overtime game against their Atlantic Division rival New York Rangers on Sunday, and turned what at one time looked like a failing season into a chance to compete for the Cup. A tough team that can score and physically dominate their opponents, the Flyers will be a tough out for the New Jersey Devils in the first round.
Offense: B With three of the top young centers in the game, Philadelphia has no shortage of depth down the middle. The problem for them this year has been finding the right mix of linemates to play with Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Claude Giroux without limiting the effectiveness and ice time of the talented forwards on the roster. Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere are all talented forwards and give the Flyers plenty of scoring depth up front. Blair Betts and Ian Laperriere are both very capable defensive forwards and Philly has a great mix of talent and physical play up front.
Defense: C
The Flyers struggled a bit in their own end this season, but their poor defensive numbers are perhaps more of an indication of their goaltending issues than the play of their defense. Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger are very capable players at both ends, while Braydon Coburn and Ryan Parent both have plenty of playoff experience from the past few seasons that will help in next week’s series against the Devils.
Goaltending: D- Ray Emery was supposed to be the answer to the answer to the Flyers’ longstanding problems in net, but with only 16 wins in 29 games, he’s been a bit of a disappointment. Surprisingly, Michael Leighton has been very impressive after joining the club midseason. With 16 wins and 5 losses, Leighton is the main reason this club even made the playoffs. Whether he or Brian Boucher starts in the playoffs remains to be seen, but Leighton has certainly made his case that he deserves to be more than a career backup.
Special Teams: B The Flyers are one of the most dangerous teams in the league with the man advantage, scoring 67 powerplay goals this year, and converting more than 21% of their opportunities. Timonen and Pronger are a big reason for that, as the two blueliners have 45 powerplay points between them. Their penalty kill isn’t quite as good as it was last year, but the fact that Carter and Richards are a key element of their penalty kill makes the Flyers a threat to score even when they’re down a man.