Flyers losing hope fast

The Philadelphia Flyers are currently on a seven-game homestand, and well, let’s say it’s going horribly. They’re none for four with zero points collected, and nothing seems to be going their way.

From inconsistent goaltending to benching star players to not capitalizing on the power play, this team is in a huge struggle. In my opinion, we are seeing a complete replica of the end of last season. Remember when Samuel Ersson was getting played too much, and the Flyers couldn’t win a game to save their lives? Well, the same thing seems to be happening now.

I’m not saying the Flyers are completely out of the race, but little hope remains. They only have 16 games remaining in the regular season and will have to leapfrog six teams to reach the final spot. Let’s get everyone up to speed quickly. Through 65 games played, the Flyers are 27-30-8 with 62 points and currently sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division. They are eight points out of the last spot, which is currently held by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have 70 points.

I want to briefly break down the four games that have been played so far in this homestand. Let’s get to it.

Calgary Flames vs. Philadelphia Flyers- Mar. 4

This game was a total catastrophe for the Flyers. Former Flyers Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost played their first game against their former team since being traded to the Flames for Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier.

The Flames would score three goals early in the first period and knock Ersson out of the game. Two of these goals were separated by two minutes. Talk about defense and poor goaltending, huh? The Flyers scored two to get within one, but the Flames went back up by two before the first period ended.

Don’t get me wrong. The Flyers had plenty of chances in this game as they were given four power-play opportunities. As I’ve said all along, the power-play continues to be a problem for this team. How much longer will Rocky Thompson be a coach? No one knows. However, he hasn’t necessarily proven that he can get the job done. This game needed to be flushed immediately.

A few positives to take away from this game could be that Kuzmenko scored a goal against his former team and Matvei Michkov picked up an assist on Sean Couturier’s goal in the third period.

Flyers lost this game 6-3.

Winnipeg Jets vs. Philadelphia Flyers- Mar. 6

This contest was strictly a revenge game for the Winnipeg Jets. They were riding a three-game losing streak and ready to get back at the Flyers for what they did back on Mar. 1. The Flyers went on to beat the Jets two to one in a shoot-out that night.

The Flyers gave up two power-play goals in the first period, which put them in a hole early. Ersson had himself another tough outing in net. While he wasn’t pulled this time around, he certainly didn’t help his numbers or the team. It can be said that the team didn’t help themselves out with their 22 giveaways.

While only getting one power-play opportunity in this one, it still shows that they have a lot of work to do in that aspect of the game.

Michkov scored the only goal for the Flyers late in the third for his 20th of the season. He was robbed of it last game when a puck that looked like it had crossed the goal line didn’t, and Couturier was awarded it when he swatted the puck into the net. This put the Flyers on a two-game losing streak.

Flyers lost this game 4-1.

Seattle Kraken vs. Philadelphia Flyers- Mar. 8

Maybe a set of back-to-back games could help things. The Flyers started this game well but ended horribly. Owen Tippett scored towards the end of the first period to give them a lead, but it would soon go all downhill from there. With 16 giveaways, the Flyers struggled the rest of the game. It didn’t help that Philipp Grubauer was on his game and saving shot after shot.

Talk about power-play struggles. The Flyers went zero for five in this game. This is definitely a game where you can’t say they didn’t have chances. Five chances and no goals. Pretty frustrating, to say the least. They’d set up in the offensive zone, but one pass too many would ruin it. To make things worse, they allowed a short-handed goal at the very end of the second period.

This would make it three straight losses for the Flyers. Could things get any worse?

Flyers lost this game 4-1.

New Jersey Devils vs. Philadelphia Flyers- Mar. 9

Out of all the games so far, this one seemed to be the most winnable-ish. The Flyers entered the third period down by two, and we all were thinking, “Just lose this game already.” Not so fast. Jamie Drysdale gave the Flyers hope at the 15:14 mark of the third period to get them within one.

Well, we can’t all have nice things. Travis Sanheim took a cross-checking penalty at the 18:30 mark of the third period just when the Flyers had momentum on their side and were trying to tie the game up. The Devils would eventually score an empty-net goal with Ivan Fedotov pulled in favor of the extra attacker.

The Flyers only had one power-play opportunity but let it go to waste. Fedotov did everything he could to keep them in the game, which seems to be a running theme with this team.

One last thing to add for this game is the benching of Michkov. Head coach John Tortorella benched Michkov after the first Devils goal. It looked like he was trying to cherry-pick instead of staying in the zone and covering his man. Flyers fans have to think that Tortorella knows what’s best for him, even though he’s just a rookie. Mistakes will be made, and that one just happened to be costly.

Flyers lost this game 3-1.

Flyers Next Game

Flyers next game is tonight in Philadelphia against the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop is just after 7 pm.

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