Just when you thought that things couldn't get any worse for the Flyers after their "let's give up five goals in about 23 minutes worth of hockey at home against the Thrashers" game on Saturday, they just did. Word came out today from the Flyers that Chris Pronger will need surgery to fix a fracture in his hand and will miss the next three to four weeks. The surgery will take place on Tuesday, with Pronger hopefully getting back right at the end of the regular season.
Things haven't been going as well for the Flyers of late, as they've gone 4-4-2 in their last ten games. They're now just one point ahead of the Washington Capitals for the first overall seed in the East, and three points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Atlantic Division lead. Without Pronger in the lineup for about the next month, the rest of the now struggling defense is going to have to step up, and with three straight road games, followed up with games at the Wells Fargo Center against Pittsburgh and Washington, things aren't going to get any easier.
The plus side to all of this is that the Flyers are going to be in the playoffs once again this year. They already have more points than they did all of last season, and there will be no last game shootout to determine whether or not the playoffs happen this year. The next 14 games are all about playoff positioning and trying to lock up the number one spot in the Eastern Conference. Doing that without Pronger, especially with the Capitals and Penguins both surging right now, is going to be very hard. Hell, it was going to be hard with Pronger in the lineup. Instead, the Flyers have to go without their best defenseman at a time when they need him the most.
It's not the offense that has been a problem with the Flyers of late. What's been going on is a problem with the defense and goaltending, and more often than not, it's happening in the third period. Throughout the first half of this season, the third period belonged to the Flyers. When they had a lead going into the third, the game was over. You could tell. The Flyers had fresher legs and just looked better than their opponents. Now, it's the other way around. The Flyers are being skated around in the third period, and when the defense can't catch up to the opposing offense, the goalie is going to look bad as well. That doesn't take Brian Boucher or Sergei Bobrovsky off the hook, however. Each of the two goalies has let in their share of soft goals during this little slump, and things need to improve in a hurry. There can't be any more seven goal games, or four goal third periods. The game against the Thrashers on Saturday needs to be the last straw for this team.
You do have to look at the bright side of this injury as well. The Flyers are going to likely get to 100 points in the regular season once again, and Pronger being out will give the rest of the defense a chance to gel and see what they can do. While that might not be a good thing, there's nothing wrong with a little ice experience for the rest of the defense. Pronger leads the Flyers in ice time this season, so getting a few other players a couple more minutes per game isn't horrible. None of them are going to be on the same level as Pronger, but then again, very few defensemen in the NHL are.
This is a big blow for the Flyers coming down the stretch, but with the playoffs already secure, it's not the end of the world. This team goes through slumps every season, and this year is no different. The only thing that's different this time around is that the slump is happening in March, not December. Peter Laviolette is too good of a head coach to let this one injury finish off the season for the Flyers. Things will be ok, just wait and see.
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