NBCSN’s coverage of the 2017-18 NHL season continues on Tuesday, as the Detroit Red Wings will host the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online by clicking here.
The Flyers have been flying (yes, I went there) over the last few weeks and it doesn’t seem like they’re going to slow down anytime soon.
They come into this game having won three in a row over three teams currently playoff spots (Maple Leafs, Devils, Capitals) and seven of their last eight contests. By now, you’ve heard about the tremendous seasons that Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek are having, but the Flyers have also received production from Travis Konecny, who scored the OT winner against the Caps on Sunday.
Konecny has collected 10 points in his last 11 contests. The fact that he’s skating on a line with Giroux and Couturier certainly doesn’t hurt.
The Flyers now sit in the first Wild Card spot, but they’ve also managed to close the gap on the teams in front of them. Their 54 points are just one behind Columbus, who is in third in the Metro, and two behind the Devils for second place in the division (New Jersey has a game in hand).
“We keep going this same track, we’ll keep plugging away at teams above us,” goalie Brian Elliott said, per NHL.com. “We can be our best and worst enemy, I guess. We have to keep looking forward, not look at teams chasing us.”
Things are a little more bleak for the Red Wings in the grand scheme of things, as they’re eight points behind the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot in the conference. On a positive note, the Wings are coming off a big 3-0 win over the Devils last night.
The Wings had dropped four of their previous five games going into last night’s tilt, but a strong performance from Petr Mrazek led them to victory.
“I’m trying to get some confidence every game I play, every save I make. I haven’t played a lot of minutes, so every game I am trying,” Mrazek told NHL.com. “Guys did a great job blocking a couple of shots. They hit the post twice. A couple of lucky bounces there. That’s how it is sometimes.”
Detroit will play their next three games at home, as they’ll host Philadelphia tonight and Chicago on Thursday before the All-Star break hits. Coming out of the break, they’ll host San Jose before finally jumping back on the road.
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.