One Bad Omen

The Flyers pulled off a momentous feat in last night's 3-2 win over the playoff-bound Atlanta Thrashers.

A four-game, season-series sweep. Over a team battling for a division title, and which is 33 points ahead of them in the overall standings.

This does not bode well for Atlanta.

That's four games they've squandered, and all the difference between a comfortable division lead in the Southeast and the battle-royale they find themselves in with a struggling Tampa Bay club which has made up 15 points in the last 6 weeks.

It's not the end of the world, but how can you justify a team that is the oldest in the NHL - which is stocked with names like Holik, Mellanby, Tkachuk, Zhitnik, Hossa and Kovalchuk - loses all four games in some fashion to a Flyers club which will end the season dead last? One example that screams out is the 1984-85 Montreal Canadiens, who won the old Adams Division. They lost all three games to a Toronto Maple Leafs team which won 20 out of 80 regular season contests, then bowed out at home in overtime in Game 7 against provincial rival Quebec in the second round.

One should note that the Canadiens learned their lesson and won the Cup the following season, but Atlanta's deadline deals indicate a "win now" philosophy that belies any lesson-learning this season.

Or maybe the lesson is, don't underestimate your opponent, no matter what the standings say. The Flyers did not play particularly well or hard in each of the first three games against Atlanta, and walked away with three wins. Last night, once the Flyers got that 3-1 lead, Atlanta clearly carried the play and momentum but even down two goals to the 30th ranked club in the NHL, it's hard to claw back to tie or win.

The best salve Bob Hartley can apply in this situation is to get his team to erase the memory of the sweep by focusing on what needs to be done to win games in the remaining portion of the schedule. This is where the Holiks and Mellanbys and even the injured Steve Rucchins on the team have to shine, to keep the younger minds in focus and continually energetic. In the blink of an eye, the Thrashers can fall from third to sixth or lower in the Eastern Conference - and pundits won't hesitate to point out Philly's 4-0 record as the main culprit.