The Philadelphia Flyers aim to keep their playoff hopes alive when they face the host Winnipeg Jets Saturday night.
Prior to Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh, the Flyers were six points out of a playoff spot and riding a promising three-game winning streak. They built a 3-0 lead over the Penguins, yet wound up suffering a 5-4 overtime loss that maintained their six-point deficit.
Despite the disappointing defeat, Flyers head coach John Tortorella remained positive about his team’s performance.
“Other than seven or eight minutes, we did a lot of good things,” Tortorella said. “Our third period was really good … It’s not one of those games … I really liked a lot of what we did.”
With just 22 games remaining in the regular season, the Flyers know they need to gain points quickly. While the loss to Pittsburgh stings, the team stays focused on the next game.
“It’s an unfortunate loss,” forward Matvei Michkov said through an interpreter after the game. “In overtime, that goal was not good. There was a little bit of miscommunication … We can’t afford mistakes like that. We’ll get ready for the next game. We have to win the next one.”
In contrast, the Jets are in a much stronger position. The Jets are leading the Western Conference by 11 points and hold the best record in the NHL — three points ahead of Eastern Conference-leading Washington.
With 22 games left, their goal is much different than the Flyers. It’s more about fine-tuning their game than scrapping to survive as they aim to win their first Stanley Cup since the franchise’s inception — and the first for a Canadian team since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
The Jets’ franchise-record 11-game winning streak came to an end Thursday in Nashville, where they lost to the Predators 2-1. Despite the setback, defenseman Neal Pionk is optimistic about the team’s ability to bounce back.
“Start a new streak,” Pionk said when asked about the upcoming game against Philadelphia. “Like every game, win or lose, we reflect on it, learn from it, wash it away and get back after it on Saturday.”
One area the Jets will focus on improving is their power play. Although they rank first in the league at 30.9 percent, the Jets have failed to score on their last 16 power-play opportunities.
“We changed a few things around,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “We had some great looks, but sometimes it just doesn’t go in. It’s part of the season, and we’ll stick with it. We’ve got some things to work on, but we’ll keep looking at it.”
The Flyers could be without forward Garnet Hathaway, who took a blindside hit from Pittsburgh’s Boko Imama on Thursday. Tortorella called it “one of the dirtiest hits (he’s) seen in a while,” and Hathaway needed assistance leaving the ice.
The Jets may get forward Morgan Barron back from an upper-body injury. He’s close to playing for the first time since Jan. 28.
