Flyers' Spread-out Schedule Adds Importance to Upcoming Western Canada Trip

VOORHEES, N.J. - Things are about to get rather spread out for the Flyers, who up until now, have had a very compressed schedule with 13 back-to-backs.
 
Counting this past Sunday's off-day, the Flyers will play just five games over the next 14 days.
 
Which means Toronto, Florida, and the Islanders, who are all chasing the Flyers and in the mix for the wild card, will have time to make up some games in hand.
 
"We're going to be sitting idle when other teams have the potential to make up ground and potentially move ahead," goalie Steve Mason said.
 
That places greater emphasis on the Flyers to make the most of their three-game road trip to Western Canada against Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
 
"Even though these are non-conference, non-division games, they are points and every point counts at this point," said Andrew MacDonald. "We know it's a big challenge. Those teams are fighting for spots and position, too. There's certainly no games overlooked anymore."
 
As of Monday, the Flyers remain ninth in the Eastern Conference. They are tied with Toronto in points (61), but the Maple Leafs hold the second wild card based on having played two fewer games.
 
"We can't let anything slide here," Mason said about the upcoming games this week.
 
A year ago after 56 games, the Flyers had 60 points and were four points out of the wild card.
 
Obviously, the stakes become higher in the weeks ahead.
 
And the thing is, only two of the next five games are against division opponents - Pittsburgh (outdoors) and Washington. Because both those clubs are fairly far ahead of the Flyers, it's harder to gain separation from, say, the Islanders because you're not playing them head-to-head.
 
The Flyers aren't going to catch anyone ahead of them. It's the clubs behind them they need to worry about.
 
"We all play 82 games," Jakub Voracek said. "No matter the distance between games, we have to play as if these games are the last game of the season. That's how tight it is right now."
 
Most of the Flyers admit even if they're not looking at the standings every day, they're conscious of where they are and who has games in hand to make up ground.
 
There are just 26 games left in the season - a little more than a quarter.
 
"Where we are in the standings, some teams have games in hand and next week the schedule starts to slow down," MacDonald said. "It's going to be important to pick up points along the way.
 
"We had been playing every other day and now we're not going to have that luxury to turn the page and get right back after it. It might take a couple days to get back, and you want to put in a real good effort to get those points."
 
Ironically, the Flyers will play their 14th set of back-to-backs on this trip starting Wednesday night in Calgary and then Thursday in Edmonton. They then wait a couple days before meeting Vancouver on Sunday night.
 
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol doesn't want his group to lose its focus on the here-and-now by watching and worrying about the standings.
 
"Every game, doesn't matter home or away, there's no point in standings-watching right now," Hakstol said. "For the teams that are able to do their job and continue in the playoff battle, it's going to be a battle right down to the bitter end.
 
"For us right now, do everything we can do so our game stays strong and we're able to battle for the two points every night."