The Philadelphia Flyers have picked the right time to get hot. With five games remaining, they sit in a playoff spot and start a three-game road trip Tuesday against the rival New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J.
The Flyers (39-26-12, 90 points) find themselves in third place in the Metropolitan Division after Sunday’s 2-1 overtime win against the visiting Boston Bruins. Coach Rick Tocchet’s team has won two straight and eight out of 11.
Since play resumed after the Olympic break, the Flyers are 14-6-1, and Tocchet said his team cannot become transfixed on how its fortunes have changed.
“When you’re chasing somebody, it’s still hard, but when you’re getting hunted, it’s harder,” he said after Sunday’s win. “We’re going to have to learn that. We can only worry about tomorrow’s practice … and then we worry about the Devils. That’s the only way you can do it. We can’t worry about it.”
Sunday was a breakout game for Porter Martone. The sixth overall pick in last year’s draft joined the club last Tuesday. He assisted on the Flyers’ first goal by Christian Dvorak, then scored the overtime winner, which also happened to be his first NHL goal.
Tocchet said that Martone has impressed him in his first week as a pro, noting how he’s talked to his veteran teammates about positioning on power plays.
“I like that. A young kid like that doing that?” Tocchet added. “You can just tell he’s been around. He’s just a hockey player. Love the kid.”
New Jersey (40-34-3, 83 points) is one of the teams chasing the Flyers in the playoff race, but the Devils are seventh in the Metropolitan and would need a lot to fall their way over the final two weeks to sneak in.
Coach Sheldon Keefe’s squad has alternated wins and losses over its last six games (3-2-1). On Sunday, the Devils scored a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens, another team trying to crash the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Keefe said players told one another after the win that they are not out of the playoff race.
“That’s what you like to see,” he said. “It’s shown up in different ways in the last few weeks, with how we played overall. The vibes and the energy, the team’s been really good and healthy. … But (against Montreal) it goes to another level in all regards.”
Jack Hughes set up two of New Jersey’s goals in the win at Montreal, continuing a hot streak he’s been on since play resumed in late February. The center — the top overall draft pick in 2019 — has 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in the 20 games since the Olympic break. He’s been held without a point in just four games in that span.
Despite missing 21 games this season, Hughes, 24, leads the team in points with 72. He’s second behind Nico Hischier (26) with 25 goals and one behind Jesper Bratt’s team-best 48 assists.
On Monday, Hughes earned the NHL’s Second Star of the Week honor, after scoring three times and posting six assists in four games.
