There are many reasons for the Philadelphia Flyers’ late playoff push. The play of goalie Carter Hart — and even veteran Brian Elliott — is the biggest reason, but enough can’t be said about the improved play of the defense also.
In the first half of the season, mostly under former head coach Dave Hakstol, almost every defenseman struggled. That included stars Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere.
It wasn’t a complete night-and-day after Scott Gordon took over the head coaching role or Rick Wilson joined the staff as an assistant coach, but the progress started almost right away.