PHILADELPHIA — The numbers suggested early on this season, when nothing was working for any of the Flyers defensemen except for these two, that Travis Sanheim and Radko Gudas were ready for more.

Coach Dave Hakstol said they weren’t, that just because the other two pairs were struggling didn’t mean that Gudas and Sanheim would have benefitted from a larger role. They’ve stayed in those roles — bottom pair in terms of even-strength minutes and with Sanheim on the second power-play unit and Gudas killing penalties — and have maintained their productivity.

“I think we understand our role and know the matchups that we’re getting,” Sanheim said. “We continue to build as a pair and we always want to get better and play more, but I think we understand the role that we’re in and trying to help this team win hockey games. we’ve been doing a fairly good job throughout the first quarter of the season here.”

Sanheim, in his second season, has made obvious leaps in his play without the puck. He has always been an offensive-minded defenseman and on occasion he’d make the wrong play and the puck would end up in the Flyers’ net.

At times last season that cost him a spot in the lineup and eventually he was kept out so long that his confidence had waned completely. He had to go down to the minors to get that back and he was useful when he got the chance to return to the Flyers even into the playoffs.

“He’s playing a position where there’s really nowhere to hide out there,” Hakstol said. “When you make mistakes, they usually show up and are noticeable. Sandy’s found a good combination with Gudy. Those two guys have been good for each other and for sure Gudy as the veteran in that group has been very good for Sandy.”

Heading into Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers, Sanheim had five assists in 17 games. Even though goal production hasn’t been a part of his game yet, the other elements are there.

He’s kept tighter gaps between him and opponents in the Flyers’ end. He’s made smarter reads of when to pinch into the offensive zone and when to recognize that the risk of an odd-man rush the other way is just too big. He’s able to have a little more patience than a couple years ago after the Flyers had drafted Ivan Provorov and fans wanted instant gratification from a budding prospect group that also included Sanheim from the draft a season prior, Samuel Morin and Robert Hägg the season before that and Shayne Gostisbehere the year before that.

“I always put pressure on myself. I want to be better every day,” Sanheim said. “I’m nowhere near where I want to get to so I think there’s always pressure on me. In saying that I think it might be off a little bit with so many younger guys here playing at this level. So I would say maybe it’s died down a little bit compared to when we were all first drafted and the excitement was there and everyone was anxious for the young guys to get here. I think it’s made it a lot easier on a lot of us in a certain way that we can just go out there and play our game every night and do what we do best.”

Sanheim entered Tuesday’s game averaging only 19 seconds more per night than he did last year as a rookie.

In that time he’s found a way to do a little bit more, but the biggest difference is the change in confidence from a year ago. He acknowledges being better prepared to work “through my struggles like I was at times last season,” and that communication with a familiar defense partner has let him to be one of the better performers.

If he and Gudas keep it up, at some point they’ll have to be elevated to greater roles.

“If you want to list them as a third pair or however you want to look at it on a line chart, that group has quietly done a good job for us,” Hakstol said. “Sandy’s had a lot of really good nights. He’s had a few dips where we address it with him and he addresses it himself and tries to improve the next night out. He’s a young player that’s getting better.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

Up next: vs. New Jersey Devils

When: 7 p.m., Thursday

TV/Radio: NBCSP/97.5 FM