Flyers Weekly Observations: More Proof to Sell at the Deadline

Another week of Flyers hockey this season is in the books.

And this mostly unsuccessful week was especially deflating because a playoff berth gets further and further away as the losses keep piling up. Time is running short to keep this season alive.

The Flyers got off to a solid start this week with a 3-2 win late night in Vancouver on Sunday. But they could not keep the momentum going at home as they were overwhelmed by the NHL-best Capitals in a 4-1 defeat on Wednesday. The Flyers played well outdoors in Pittsburgh on Saturday, but were still doubled up in a 4-2 loss.

Let's dive deeper into the week that was for the Flyers.

• After the win in Vancouver on Sunday night, you thought maybe that would be a boost for the Flyers as they headed back home. Well, not so much. Instead, this week proved just how far away the Flyers are. They couldn't keep up with the Caps on Wednesday, and while they played better Saturday at Heinz Field, it still wasn't enough. As of early Sunday evening, the Flyers are six points out of the final wild-card berth in the East. Five points doesn't seem like much, but with as poorly as the Flyers have been playing, especially offensively, and how the handful teams they're contending with for that spot (Florida, Toronto, Boston, NY Islanders, Tampa) are playing much better these days, six points seem like a mountain. All those factors combined should tip the Flyers' scale heavily into sell mode before Wednesday's trade deadline. Mark Streit, Michael Del Zotto and both Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth are all prime candidates to be moved. There are 21 games left heading into Tuesday's meeting with Colorado. There's time, but with the way this week and recent weeks went, the Flyers shouldn't hesitate to make a move if there's one they like, no matter what the standings look like.

• Let's go back to the Washington game on Wednesday for a moment. The opening sequence of that game was, in a lot of ways, a microcosm of Dale Weise's first season with the Flyers. He made a great hustle play to nullify an icing and help set up Jake Voracek's goal. But he cancelled that out with a unnecessary push of Washington goalie Braden Holtby that took Voracek's goal off the board and helped put the momentum right back in the laps of the Capitals. The good plays Weise has made this season have been greatly outweighed by his mistakes. Weise has two goals this season, both scored in the state of Florida on back-to-back nights in November.

• Sticking with the Capitals game on Wednesday, there was a sequence late in the second period of that game that stuck out to me when the score was 2-1 in favor of Washington. As a fruitless Flyers' power play wound down, Matt Read controlled the puck along the half-wall. Instead of trying to get the puck toward the net, he carried the puck into heavy traffic behind the Washington net. The Caps eventually won the battle along the boards and skated out of the zone with the puck. Moments later, Evgeny Kuznetsov put the puck towards the net. It hit the stick of Radko Gudas and pinballed past Michal Neuvirth to give the Caps a 3-1 lead. Proof that sending the puck toward the net is almost never a bad play.

• Love the goal Voracek scored outdoors in the second period on Saturday night. He controlled the puck behind the net, shook a Pens defenseman, cut to the front of the net and extended to slide the puck past Matt Murray and give the Flyers some life at 2-1. It was a classic power move. Voracek can be deceptively strong and quick, so he's capable of scoring in that manner. If not for Weise's goalie interference on Wednesday, Voracek would be on a three-game goal-scoring streak.

• Saturday night's effort in Pittsburgh was all too similar to what we've become accustomed to lately. A fine performance with some encouraging aspects, but not enough to get over the hump as a mistake or two winds up costly. The Flyers outshot the Pens, 38-29, but Matt Cullen's stuff-in that made it 3-1 really hurt. But the Flyers still had life after Shayne Gostisbehere scored to make it 3-2. But Chad Ruhwedel added the backbreaker for the Pens minutes later. Neuvirth has played well recently and earned the Stadium Series start, but Saturday was not a good showing for him. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see Steve Mason back in net Tuesday against Colorado.

• It's got to be nice for the Flyers to see Ghost snap his 34-game goalless drought with that power-play goal on Saturday. And it's got to be nice for Ghost to get that monkey off his back. The Flyers desperately need his offense, and in an effort to change things up, Dave Hakstol and staff had Ghost move back and forth from the half-wall to the point on the power play. Gostisbehere has struggled to hit the net this season, but the Flyers desperately need his offensive touch, so he needs to keep shooting. It's like they say in basketball – shooters shoot. That's what they do.

• I get hot and cold on the concept of outdoor games. Loved it when the league first introduced them with the Winter Classic and held one a year. But I get cold on them when there are more than one or two a year. The league can oversaturate a really cool thing and take away the games' luster. That one year they had a Winter Classic and then outdoor games in New York (twice), L.A. and Chicago was just ridiculous. But Saturday night's game in Pittsburgh looked awesome. The set-up, the rivalry, playing at night… everything about it was great. Just keep them to one or two a year and don't ruin them.

Coming up this week: Tuesday vs. Colorado (7 p.m./CSN), Thursday vs. Florida (7 p.m./CSN), Saturday at Washington (7:30 p.m./CSN)