Every night before he goes to bed, Claude Giroux takes one last look at his cell phone.

The last thing he searches for is the NHL standings to “take a little glimpse at it.” Giroux, the Flyers’ captain, is probably underselling it a bit. Even at the midway point, that’s where the Flyers are after a 3-2 win over Boston Wednesday, it’s more likely a full on inventory of where everyone else is and how close the Flyers stand to a playoff spot.

“It’s all about confidence,” said Giroux, whose team pulled within two points of a spot Wednesday night and now have to wait until Saturday to play again. “Right now we have it and we have to make sure we keep it. It’s gonna happen. Teams are gonna be streaky and get a bunch of wins in a row. We just have to make sure we keep going here.”

Unlike in years past, where the Flyers just hoped they could keep up a good streak, they feel like they know they’re going to do it.

“I think everybody knows what to do out there,” alternate captain Mark Streit said. “We know what the gameplan is. We have a lot of automatics and it makes the game easier. If you go back for a puck as a D and you know you there is a guy there, I know I have support everywhere. You go into the corner with a lot more confidence because you know the guy is gonna talk to you, he’s gonna support you and you break the puck out most of the time clean. That makes a huge difference.”

A year also makes a big difference. At the halfway point of last season, the Flyers were 10 points out. They had points in 12 of 13 games from late January to late February and ultimately fell shy of a postseason slot.

Another year older and wiser, the Flyers seem like a team more confident in this campaign.

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