Hart and soul Flyers set for Game 7

Still a team difficult to seriously characterize as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers nonetheless have won three games in their conference semifinal series with the New York Islanders.

They had to win all of them in overtime.

In the three series games they’ve lost, the Islanders have outscored them by a healthy, 10-3. Certainly, as the they pondered the prospect of Game 7 Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the Flyers ... or anyone watching the series, for that matter ... can correctly speculate on a few key points over the first six games.

1. Carter Hart. He’s given up a lot more goals than he’s accustomed to. He had to make 49 saves while outplaying crease counterpart Semyon Varlamov Thursday night in Game 6, a 5-4 double-OT Flyers victory. The Isles goalie only had to make 26 saves the whole night, which kind of gives you an idea of how one-sided the game was at times, favoring the team that ultimately lost.

2. Forward depth. The Flyers, fresh off winning the three-team, round-robin “seeding tourney” that preceded the playoffs and was responsible for them being crowned as No. 1 in the East, were said by many to have the edge in this department over the Islanders. Hardly. Even with Sean Couturier healthy, which he isn’t, no Flyers line can match the speed and savvy of the Islanders’ top line of center Mathew Barzal and wingers Anders Lee and Jordan Eberle.

The Flyers are also having a hard time matching up with the Islanders’ third line of center Jean Gabriel Pageau, Leo Komarov and a rejuvenated Derick Brassard. And second line stalwarts Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey, and fourth liners Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck have also been very problematic for the Flyers. The Isles have veteran presence all through that lineup.

Yet the Flyers have hung tough, at least they have in three games, and have found ways to win them, even if it’s taken a little extra time.

3 (and most importantly). The power play. Or to put it more accurately, the lack of one for the Flyers.

They were drawing barbs and belly laughs for scoring only four times on the power play in the postseason as they were wrapping up a six-game victory over Montreal in the conference quarterfinals. Now, six games deep into the next round, the Flyers still only have four postseason power play goals, rounding it out now at 4-for-50, or an even 8 percent “success” ratio.