Flyers Lose 3rd Straight to Devils
The Flyers finished up their 4 game mini-season series with the New Jersey Devils with a 4-1 loss at Wells Fargo Center. It was their third straight loss to the Devils this week, falling to 22-22-7 on the season. In similar fashion to when the Flyers lost to the previous 18 games winless Sabres a month ago, the Devils had lost 10 straight games before beating the Flyers three times in a row this season. If it isn't obvious enough, it is safe to say the Flyers are in tank mode.
The Flyers went down early, again, after a goal from Jesper Bratt made the game 1-0 for the Devils 5 minutes into the first period, beating Brian Elliott, who only had 17 saves on the night. It was the tenth straight game that the Flyers went down 1-0 to start the game. It was also the 24th time in the past 33 games that the Flyers went down 1-0 in a game. The snap shot from Bratt went off the helmet of Elliott and into the top right corner to give the Devils the lead. The Flyers were unable to find the tying goal in the first period.
Another early goal in the second period gave the Devils the 2-0 lead, as Janne Kuokkanen one-timed a pass from Jack Hughes into the Flyers net. The Devils were clearly playing with a lot more energy at this point in the game than the lowly Flyers were. Even though the Devils are farther down the standings from the Flyers, they clearly wanted this game, and all the others in this series more. Silly mistakes have put the Flyers in these early-game deficits, and that continued to be the story of the season tonight, as both of the Devils' early goals came from Flyers mistakes or turnovers.
The Flyers found themselves on an early power play in the third period, but unfortunately, Nico Hischier took the puck from Couturier and scored past Elliott on the breakaway to make it a 3-0 game. Then later in the third Yegor Sharangovic scored his fourth goal in two games against the Flyers to make the score 4-0 Devils. The Flyers finally got on the board with a minute left as Joel Farabee scored off a snapshot that finally got past Mackenzie Blackwood, who had 30 saves in the game.
It was another weak effort from the Flyers, who now thankfully only have 5 games left on the dreadful season. Mistakes and little effort have riddled this team throughout the year, who had expectations to make another deep playoff run. The only smart thing the organization is doing right now is getting young guys called up and getting NHL ice time for them, as they will be important going forward as the Flyers move off older players like JVR and Voracek. The Flyers season has become laughable every game and us dedicated fans who still watch only have 5 more games left, we can make it through.