Flyers Look To Take Advantage Of Home Ice
By Dan Majka
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Since early December, the Flyers have spent a lot of time living out of hotel rooms. And despite all of their success on the road this season, there is little doubt that Peter Laviolette's guys will be more than happy to spend some time sleeping in their own beds.
Philadelphia just completed a stretch in which they played 15 of their last 21 games away from home. During that time, the orange and black went 13-7-1, including nine wins in the opponent's building.
As impressive as those numbers seem, the Flyers coach wasn't interested in any silver linings after Saturday night's loss in Nashville.
"It's tough," said Laviolette. "We just lost a game where we needed to win and get home with the two points, so I guess that's a reflection for a different day."
Over the next three weeks, the Flyers will spend most of their time skating in front of the home crowd, with 11 of their next 15 games scheduled in Philadelphia.
"It seems like the whole month of December we've been on the road and to start the New Year," said Wayne Simmonds. "It'll be nice to come back home to our fans and get a couple points there."
The Flyers have racked up a total of 22 points at home (10-6-2) where they've played much better recently. The team has won five of its last six at the Wells Fargo Center heading into Tuesday night's contest with the Wild.
While Minnesota has played surprisingly well this season, sitting in second place behind the defending Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks in the Northwest division, they have won just two games in the their last ten.
And after Minnesota, it's the New York Islanders, a team the Flyers have simply owned. Philadelphia has won 23 of the last 24 meetings with the Islanders.
Those are two games that the Flyers definitely want to grab on home ice as they try to keep pace with the Rangers.
The Flyers (56 points) trail New York by four points in the Atlantic division. They are currently fourth overall in the Eastern Conference.
