The Philadelphia Flyers are 4-2-1 since Mike Yeo took over, on the heels of a seven-game losing streak that was the final nail in the Alain Vigneault coffin, the Flyers now own a season best five game point streak. The Flyers (12-12-5) are 4-0-1 in their last 5 games. After beating the Devils 6-1 a week ago, they lost in a shootout to Montreal and took an OT win against the Senators heading into a Tuesday night showdown with the Capitols before a Thursday night showdown with the streaking Penguins to close out the break before Christmas.
Taking a quick look at the numbers the Flyers are scoring 3.67 goals per game under Yeo, the Power Play is hitting at 30.8%. Cam Atkinson has scored four goals, Oskar Lindblom is starting to find the net and Joel Farabee is back from a shoulder injury that sidelined him a few games and scored against Ottawa. Even Travis Konecny who was last seen on the back of a milk carton has started to contribute, albeit not with goals but there is hope he actually finds the back of the net soon. Captain Claude Giroux tied Bill Barber for 3rd all time in points for the Flyers with 833. Bobby Clarke is the franchise leader with 1210
Carter Hart missed the Senators game with an undetermined illness but did not seem to be COVID related. Morgan Frost left the Devils game in the first period for COVID protocols and is still out, Kevin Hayes was added to COVID protocols today as was a staff member. Max Willman also was in COVID protocols.
The NHL is being hit hard with COVID related incidents 9 teams are shut down through Christmas. The Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Flames, Red Wings, Maple Leafs, Avalanche, Panthers, Predators and Bruins. The Flyers played the Canadiens in front of an empty building for the first time this year.
The NHL and NHL Players Association said in a joint press release on Sunday that the plan was to avoid a full shutdown of the league and just pause teams on a case-by-case basis. Several Canadian provinces are or will soon limit attendance to large events like NHL games to 50% and the NHL participation in the Olympics is in jeopardy. The NHL has until January 10th to opt out of the Olympics without a financial penalty but retains the right to cancel its plans right up until the players are scheduled to travel to Beijing.