The NHL’s longest current winning streak rolls on.
Thanks to their 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night, the Philadelphia Flyers were able to extend their streak to nine consecutive games. They win also allows them to keep pace with the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division (where they remain tied for first place) and improves them to 16-3-1 over their past 20 games.
The two big stars for the Flyers on Saturday were Claude Giroux and starting goalie Carter Hart.
Giroux scored a pair of goals in the win, including the game-winner, and topped the 20-goal mark for the eighth time in his career.
Hart, meanwhile, was outstanding in net once again.
He turned aside 38 out of 39 shots he faced and extended his own personal winning streak to seven consecutive decisions. Since returning to the lineup in mid-February he has a 9-1-0 record in 10 starts with a save percentage over .930. He has allowed more than two goals just twice during that stretch, and more than three goals just once. His return to health and continued development into a top starting goaltender is one of the biggest driving forces in the Flyers’ turnaround. They have been waiting for a goalie like him for decades, and while it is still very early in his career the early results are as promising as the Flyers could have hoped for.
They have a chance to extend their winning streak to 10 games on Tuesday when they host the Boston Bruins.
The Flyers’ schedule gets really intense, really quickly here over the next couple of weeks. Their next eight games come against the Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, and New York Islanders. Every one of those teams is a potential playoff team.
Related: Healthy Hart driving Flyers’ surge
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.