Flyers Winning in Desperation Mode

Whether or not the players will ever talk about it, this weekend's back-to-back games against the Devils were desperation games, or must-win games, if that tickles your fancy.

The players won’t say it on TV or radio, but they will talk about it off the record when it’s just us and them chatting. It was something the Flyers have been talking about and working hard at to get out of this rollercoaster slump to start the season.

The Flyers ended this week winning their last two games in a row. Yes, I said two wins in a row.

They played very well Friday and Saturday night against bitter rivals Marty Brodeur and the Devils. The Flyers deserved to win both games; they played hard and played effective team hockey. Team hockey is something they lacked in the first six games of this early season.

It was surprising to me to see how good this team is playing without star forward Danny Briere, who will be out for at least four weeks. It seemed as if the Flyers realized that they now have to utilize the aspect of team play to its fullest.

Losing Briere was a huge blow to this squad, but the Flyers proved that they can overcome adversity when they have to.

Now, they have to continue to play as if every game is a must-win until they get to the point they know how good they can be.

It was great to see Marty Biron get two good games under his belt. He needed these two to get his confidence in check. Mike Richards had four assists on Friday, which was a career-high for him.

Leadership will be very important for this team in weeks to come. Players such as Simon Gagne, Kimmo Timonen, and Richards are going to have to go above and beyond normal duties and put this team on their backs and play full speed ahead.

I believe this team can get out of this, and so do their fans. Now they have to go out there and prove to Philadelphia Flyers faithful that they're dedicated to the righting of this ship and playing the way they're expected to play.