Gostisbehere trying to keep confidence high
VOORHEES, N.J. >> There is not a strange case of deaf, dumb and blind going around the Flyers’ locker room. These players, like most of their predecessors here, can read and count.
Those talents are especially useful when looking at the NHL standings.
“When you play hard and don’t get results it’s not fun,” coach Dave Hakstol said after a sparsely attended optional practice Wednesday. “But we’ve continued to play hard and we’re getting some of the results right now. We all know the reality of our situation. We don’t have to revisit it, day in and day out. We know that for us, the most important thing is to take care of our own business. That’s kind of a singleminded focus of our group right now.”
For the Flyers, it has to be, since they weren’t focused enough to getting winning results in too many games this season. Inconsistent play, especially on the offensive end, in the season’s second half has put them in this near-elimination position. That they happen to be playing in the most competitive division in the league now hasn’t helped.
As the season enters its final 10-day stretch, the Flyers are six points south of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with three other teams separating them from No. 8 Boston.
One of those better-off hopefuls, the New York Islanders, pay a visit to Wells Fargo Center Thursday night looking to expedite the Flyers’ countdown to an early spring.
That doesn’t mean the home team has to count along.
“Our motto’s, ‘Never die,’ (but) we know what’s against us here, I think,” Shayne Gostisbehere said. “We’re just taking it game by game and we’re trying to win every game right now. We’re still going out there, putting our best foot forward and trying to win games.”
Gostisbehere, whose sophomore season was negatively impacted by offseason hip surgery — or at least it seemed that way — is having an easier time putting both of his feet forward. Like Claude Giroux, who had essentially the same surgery on the same May day, the speed and ability to dart in all directions on their skates has gotten noticeably better of late.
That has made all the difference in Gostisbehere’s game, though he’d prefer not to talk about the physical aspects of his recently improved play. Instead, he claims a renewal of confidence has given him an inner green light to be more creative on the attack and better capable of shutting down the other guys.
“You could look at it like that,” Gostisbehere, who has two goals and seven points in the past 11 games, said about the logic of improved health making for great confidence. “I look at it a different way. I’m a no-excuse guy. You have to have confidence to make plays like that. They’re risky plays, but they’re plays that can be effective. I think more for me, it’s (about) the building of the confidence. It’s huge. I think it’s working for me right now and it’s working for our team. We’re a confident bunch right now and it’s really showing.”
The Flyers (36-32-8, 80 points) have won two games in a row, three of their last four. And of course, this little run came on the heels of debilitating losses to New Jersey and Winnipeg that essentially put them on the nonplayoff abyss.
Of course, winning games and blocking out what everybody else happens to be doing can make that fate a little easier to negotiate.
That would also be the current operating philosophy of the guy they call “Ghost,” who finally is looking like that guy again.
“It’s confidence with the puck but there’s also confidence with defending. When you step up on guys that’s a huge thing, too,” Gostisbehere said. “I don’t feel different. There’s no light switch going on and off. I feel the same.
“Realistically, I’m just trying to make the playoffs. That’s what we’re trying to do. I focus on myself individually away from the rink. Being a healthy (scratch) five times this year isn’t something I’m proud of. But it’s how you react and how you come back from it that’s the biggest thing. I think I did learn a lot this year.”
*** NOTES >> Nick Cousins, idled for several games with what’s thought to be a concussion, was running on-ice drills Wednesday and says he’s been cleared to practice in full. “I’m feeling good,” Cousins said. “I don’t know if I’m 100 percent, but I’m pretty close to it. I haven’t been on the ice for a while, so it’s just a matter of getting into game shape.” ... Jordan Weal on a jagged edge in the front of his mouth: “It’s probably the 10th time that these new pair of teeth have been chipped. So it’s nothing new.”