The Flyers Must Go Streaking In 4-Game Series vs. The Devils

Scoring Required

The Flyers’ defensive woes during the month of March are no secret. The team gave up a league-worst 4.41 goals per game.

At 3.08 goals against per game in April, the Flyers are tied for 19th best — not great, but certainly an improvement. And it’s actually New Jersey that has struggled the most defensively, giving up 4.62 goals a game in April.

Now, the Flyers are at the bottom of the league at the other end of the ice. With just 24 goals in 12 games this month, Philadelphia’s 2.00 goals scored has them tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for last place in that category.

Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek are leading the way offensively in April, with eight points each, and Voracek leads the team with four goals. Sean Couturier, James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux and Ivan Provorov each have six points, and Shayne Gostisbehere has five, including three goals.

From there, offensive production falls off a cliff.

New contract or not, Scott Laughton’s last point came on March 20. Nolan Patrick has just one assist in April, and only eight points for the year. He was healthy-scratched on Friday to make room in the lineup for newly signed college free agent Jackson Cates.

After a red-hot start to the season, Joel Farabee has just one goal and three assists in his last 15 games. And what has happened to Kevin Hayes — the seven-million-dollar man who came through in the clutch with five game-winning goals last season? This year, he has been invisible for long stretches. In April, he has no goals and three assists.

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Prospect Pipeline

Cates didn’t hit the scoresheet in his NHL debut on Friday. Known as a solid two-way player during his three years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he won an NCAA championship in 2019, Cates did record three shots on goal. He also went 5-for-8 in the faceoff circle as he centered Oskar Lindblom and Nicolas Aube-Kubel on Philadelphia’s fourth line.

Now a grizzled veteran with five NHL games under his belt, Wade Allison continues to play an energetic game. His only point was a goal against Washington a week ago, but he has earned Vigneault’s trust. On Friday, he started on the Flyers’ second line, with Farabee and Hayes.

In Lehigh Valley, the club has more tantalizing young talent stashed away. Tyson Foerster and Zayde Wisdom will now play out the year in the AHL, after the Ontario Hockey League officially cancelled its season earlier in the week. And fresh college signing Cam York is looking for his first pro point, playing in his third game with the Phantoms on Saturday night.

Transfer rules limit the number of call-ups that an NHL team can make after the trade deadline. But if the past couple of weeks are any indication, Vigneault is going to use every opportunity that’s available to him to assess his prospects as the regular season winds down.