VOORHEES, N.J. -- If you think you’ve seen a little different Flyers team over the course of the first couple weeks of the season, your eyes haven’t been deceiving you.
But it’s not just the new players on the ice.
It’s more on the intangible side of things with the team being confident in the system and message new head coach Dave Hakstol is selling and each player being more personally accountable with what they’re doing on the ice.
The results are showing with five points in the season’s first four games.
“You go out there and you have a job to do and you need to do it on a consistent basis,” defenseman Mark Streit said. “We still have a lot of games in October and you want to keep going. I think everybody is old enough to know what his job is and what to do, so we’ve been functioning as a team and we’ve been successful together.
“I feel like there’s a little different feeling on the bench and on the ice. Just a little bit more calmness and I think we’ve been playing with more confidence.”
While it’s just five points in four games, this season’s start has already been a total 180 from the deep October holes the Flyers have dug themselves the past two years.
Two years ago, the Flyers stumbled out of the gate to a 1-7 start that saw head coach Peter Laviolette fired after the third game. They didn’t pick their fifth point in the standings until their 10th game of the year on Oct. 26.
Last season was a little better, but they were still just 1-3-2 out of the gate and didn’t pick up their fifth point until Oct. 22, which was their seventh game of the year.
By comparison, point No. 5 this year came on Oct. 14.
Jake Voracek agreed with Streit’s sentiments on confidence and accountability playing a big role so far this season.
“It’s four games only, but we’ve done a better job so far this year than last year,” said the star forward, who is still looking for his first goal. “It’s not just in the defensive zone, either. It’s how you’re responsible in the offensive zone with the third guy high. It’s how you’re responsible with the puck on your stick in the third period when you’re up one goal.
“We’ve got to focus on that all stuff all season long. It’s our job — the veteran group and everyone who’s been around a long time — to make sure everyone is on the same page here for a full season.”
While he’s appreciative his players are buying into what he’s selling and the confidence they have in him and his message, Hakstol said the accountability aspect has blossomed thanks to the efforts of his team’s veteran leadership group.
“I fully believe that’s the leadership group in the locker room,” he said. “Those things come from the leaders in here and that’s how they grow and become part of your everyday work habits.”
Only time will tell, but so far, so good.
Loose pucks
R.J. Umberger, who missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, was a full participant in Sunday’s practice, but Hakstol said it’s still too early to determine whether or not any lineup changes will be made for Tuesday’s home game against Dallas.
Speaking of lineup changes, Hakstol also said that no decision has been made as to whether Steve Mason or Michael Neuvirth, the latter of whom has pitched back to back shutouts and is riding shutout streak of 132:05, will start Tuesday’s game. Each goalie split practice reps evenly on Sunday. With back to back games Tuesday vs. Dallas and Wednesday in Boston, the expectation is the goalies will split those starts. Mason, who was away from the team for a few days last week to tend to a personal issue, hasn’t played since he was pulled after giving up four goals in the first period of the 7-1 loss to Florida on Oct. 10.