from Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer,
This was not a COVID coincidence. This was not a moral victory. This was real. These Flyers are real.
Ignore their 4-0 Game 7 dud. It should not define the past season or their incandescent future.
This was real goaltending by 22-year-old Carter Hart. Real grit from 23-year-old defenseman Ivan Provorov. Real leadership from 32-year-old captain Claude Giroux and his chief lieutenant, Sean Couturier. Real discipline and defensive commitment from 31-year-old scorer Jake Voracek – a new trick for that old dog.
Giroux has two years left on his contract. The Flyers’ window will be open for at least that long. After a seven-game, second-round loss, that is real consolation.
“We like our team. We like the pieces we have,” said Giroux, who finally won a playoff series for the first time in eight years. “We’re going in the right direction.”
How do we know this is the right direction?
Because we saw real growth from a young core who were afforded no quarter by first-year coach Alain Vigneault. He challenged his Big Boys to wear their appropriate trousers not just after the Islanders took a three-games-to-one lead, but all season. Voracek and James van Riemsdyk are the second- and fourth-highest-paid players on the team. He didn’t care. He benched them both.
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