OTTAWA, Ontario — Just 10 days ago, the Flyers appeared to be in a bit of disarray, having just fallen, 4-0, to the Ottawa Senators for their third straight loss and second straight shutout.
They did some good things in that Ottawa loss, though, like directing 81 shots toward the opposition goal, landing 36 of those on net.
Since then, they can do almost no wrong, as their 4-2 win Tuesday over those same Senators (see Instant Replay), in the same building they were blanked in 10 days ago, will attest. It was their fourth win in five games.
“It’s been nice. The last little bit we’ve been playing good hockey," said Wayne Simmonds, who scored the winning goal late in the second period and picked up an assist on the empty-net goal by Sean Couturier that sealed the deal. "I think we’re spending a lot more attention to detail and we’re getting it done."
He was also apparently aware that the Flyers have now strung together their first three-game winning streak of the season.
“Yeah, oh yeah," Simmonds said. "We haven’t won too many in a row but we’re starting to build our confidence and you can really tell everyone has got their head up.”
The Senators jumped out early on the Flyers, but the bend-don’t-break approach seemed to work nicely.
“We just stuck with our game. When you’re playing on the road, the home team is generally going to come out really strong," Simmonds said. "We weathered the storm and then we came back at them in the back half of the first period. I think in the second period we really turned it around."
Three times the Flyers grabbed a one-goal lead thanks to a first-period goal from Shayne Gostisbehere and second-period markers from Evgeny Medvedev and Simmonds.
The Senators responded to the first two goals with goals of their own from Zack Smith and Mike Hoffman, but they had no answer to the third, or the fourth for that matter, that Couturier dumped into an empty net.
“Lately we’ve been closing games pretty good and not giving up too much,” Couturier said.
“We’re playing some better hockey, we trust each other more, we’re playing more in the system and we’re finding ways to close games. Earlier in the season, we were scared to lose games and it cost us a few points. Lately we’ve been doing a really good job.”
He said a good outlook is the main reason for the recent turnaround.
“We try to stay positive," Couturier said. "The last time we were here, we still generated close to 40 shots. We understand Anderson played a great game and we just have to stick to what we did and get pucks to the net. Tonight we capitalized on a few chances.”
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said there hasn’t been a big change in the way his team has been playing, but that confidence does play a big part in success. And winning builds confidence.
“I said it before the game, the difference between winning and losing in this league is a few little things each night," he said. "We got some key saves, made some plays offensively and I thought we played hard for 60 minutes.
“There’s nothing special about what we’re doing. We’re working hard and we’re playing together and the guys are having fun.”
Why wouldn’t they be having fun. Eight of a possible 10 points has pulled them to the .500 mark at 10-10-5 and, more importantly, pulled them to within two points of a playoff spot.