Following Wednesday’s hard-fought victory in Chicago that thrust the Flyers into the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, head coach Dave Hakstol granted his team a full day off on Thursday.
But one Flyer was at SkateZone Thursday morning, pushing himself as much as possible on the ice.
That Flyer’s name is Jake Voracek, and he continues to ready himself for a return for the stretch run of season, possibly even as soon as Saturday’s huge game against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, who sit two points ahead of the Flyers for the first wild-card spot in the East heading into Thursday night’s action.
Voracek, who has missed the last nine games because of a lower-body injury suffered in a win over the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 25, skated for about 40 minutes on Thursday with Flyers assistant coach Gord Murphy.
“It’s been tough,” Voracek said about having to sit out during the most important time of year. “But the boys have made it easy on me. It’s much easier to watch when the team is winning and playing so good and playing such good offensive hockey.
“It’s been fun to watch them and they just have to keep it going the same way they have been for the last nine games.”
The Flyers haven’t skipped a beat without Voracek, who has 10 goals and 38 assists on the season and is third on the team with 48 points.
NHL
Since Voracek went down, the Flyers are 7-1-1 and have earned 15 of a possible 18 points to crash the playoff chase party in the East. During this stretch, the Flyers have scored 33 goals, an average of 3.67 per game.
One area that could use Voracek’s help is the first power-play unit, which has sagged a bit over the past four games. The Flyers’ power play is 4 for 16 in the last four contests, but all of those goals have come courtesy of the second unit. The first unit hasn’t cashed in since the win over visiting Tampa Bay on March 7.
In Voracek’s absence, the Flyers have used defenseman Mark Streit in Voracek’s usual point spot on the first power-play unit. All told, without Voracek in the lineup the last nine games, the power play is 8 for 39.
But two questions linger.
First, when will Voracek be back? If recent workout and practice sessions are any indication, Saturday afternoon could be a real possibility. Voracek is a Penguins nemesis with 12 goals and 16 points in 25 career games against Pittsburgh.
Second, where will he play when he comes back? With the Flyers’ lines meshing so well right now, that’s a question Hakstol will have to find an answer to, possibly sooner rather than later.
We should get clearer indications to both questions after Friday’s practice.