Stanley Cup Playoffs: 3 dark horse candidates from the Eastern Conference
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers may not be considered as much of a dark horse as other teams on this list considering they are sitting in second place in the Metropolitan Division, but that in large part is due to how hot they had gotten just prior to the NHL stoppage. They were the best team in the league for the last month of the season, going 9-1-0 in their final 10 games.
Leading the team in scoring was Travis Konecny with 24 goals and 61 points in 66 games. Although those totals aren’t nearly as high as some other teams top scorers, the Flyers were getting contributions from many players, and had three other players (Couturier, Voracek, Giroux) who had over 50 points. Newly signed Kevin Hayes has also been a big addition to the team and is just one back of Konecny for the team lead in goals with 23.
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The biggest reasoning for their recent surge was the goaltending from 21-year-old phenom Carter Hart. Despite a slow start to the year, he has really turned around his play and ended up finishing the season with a very solid 2.42 GAA and a .914% save percentage. It remains to be seen how the youngster will adjust to playoff hockey, but if he plays like he is capable of then the Flyers have a strong chance to go on a deep run.