Flyers try to make most of new life

Claude Giroux was starting to take a long look in the mirror.

After recording a point in a Game 4 victory against the Washington Capitals, the Philadelphia Flyers captain might not have to spend as much time worrying about self-analysis.

With his team playing an intense game of catch-up after losing three in a row to open the Eastern Conference best-of-seven series, and with nary a point in those losses from Giroux, the 28-year-old was taking more on mentally.

“You try not to,” Giroux said Thursday. “I just want to win. You do put pressure on yourself. I think it’s not bad to do that. It’s good to make sure you push yourself to be the best you can be and do the best you can out there.”

The Flyers’ season goes back on the line Friday night when they again will try to keep elimination from the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs at bay. The Capitals hold a 3-1 lead in the firstround series and with a win in Game 5 at the Verizon Center in D.C. would advance to the second round.

The Philadelphia organization had some good news to share Thursday with the announcement forward Scott Laughton was released from hospital and “is doing well.” The team added Laughton did not accompany the team to Washington and another update on his status will come in the next couple of days.

Laughton was taken off the ice on a stretcher in the first period of Game 4 after he crashed awkwardly into the end boards following a hit by Capitals defenceman John Carlson. Laughton was face down on the ice for several minutes without moving, but eventually was wheeled off. No penalty was called on the play.

The Flyers will tell you they are a confident group, but they had sagged heading into the fourth game. Coach Dave Hakstol, down to his last strokes, benched starting goalie Steve Mason in favour of Michal Neuvirth and put Brayden Schenn on the top line with Giroux and Wayne Simmonds. .

“This isn’t a group that wants to stop any time soon,” Hakstol said. “Right now, you are on a one-day basis — win and continue to move on — and that is probably a good scenario for us. We have been very good with short-term goals.”

The Flyers remain in a spot where the odds are stacked high against them. Just four teams in NHL history have won a bestof-seven after falling behind 3-0.

And the Capitals, winners of the Presidents’ Trophy, lost consecutive games just four times during the regular season.

Giroux, who quietly piles up points for the Flyers, is underrated in some corners of the NHL. Not in Philadelphia, where he wants to meet high expectations.

“He takes a lot upon himself, he takes a lot on his shoulders when things don’t go right,” Hakstol said. “For him to get (his first point of the series), it was a good signal for our hockey team.”