PHILADELPHIA – Seven goals in six games will never be a formula for success and the Flyers know this all too well.
After Monday night’s desultory 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Flyers can’t even seem to explain why they can’t put the puck in the net.
Hence, a seven-game (0-5-2) winless streak certainly is not surprising.
They let a rookie goalie, Jordan Binnington, come in and register a shutout in his first NHL start.
That’s how bad it’s become.
The Flyers left the ice to a shower of boos, from what was left of a few scant fans.
Incidentally, the Flyers’ home win total stays at seven, which is the lowest in the NHL. They are 7-10-3 at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers have not been able to score goals and the chances they do generate seem to miss or get blocked.
Philadelphia has been shut out three times at home this season and six times overall.
The Flyers have scored one goal or less 14 times and two or less 19 times.
Scott Laughton probably summed up the Flyers’ frustration best.
“That was tough tonight,’’ he said. “No jam to our game. We’re one and done every time we entered the zone. They were coming right back at us.
“When you lose this many games in a row, it’s tough. But that’s no excuse. You have to get in and work. We have to be better.’’
It’s not like the St. Louis Blues are the Tampa Bay Lightning either. The Blues entered the game with the same number of points as the Flyers (36) and had a minus-19 team goal differential.
“It (current state) is a build-up of everything,’’ Laughton said. “They score the first goal and (us) getting down can’t happen. We have to be better as players. We have to do a better job and we’re not doing that right now.’’
Wayne Simmonds acknowledged the disgruntled fans, who were particularly upset with the Flyers’ one half-hearted power play midway through the third period.
The very fact that St. Louis was only forced into one penalty in the game says something about the Flyers’ lack of energy.
“We didn’t shoot the puck enough (only 25 shots), we didn’t get enough traffic,’’ Simmonds said. “I think the guys in here should know (about the possibility of booing). If you don’t give your best effort in Philadelphia, you’re going to get booed. Everybody knows that.’’
To add insult to injury, the Blues’ winning goal was provided by ex-Flyer Brayden Schenn, who scored 41 seconds into the second period on a short shot which eluded Flyers goalie Carter Hart.
That’s the way it’s been going for the Flyers, who haven’t won since before Christmas.
At the 11-minute mark of the third period, Vladimir Tarasenko scored to essentially put the game away.
Coach Scott Gordon has been satisfied with limiting other teams’ chances. It just seems there’s that one or two odd goals that take place against them.
“It was not our best effort as far as execution,’’ he said. “We had a lot of guys that just didn’t seem to have it, handling the puck and making plays.
“I give St. Louis credit. . .it felt like there was no room out there. When we were in the offensive zone, we didn’t have a lot of time and space.’’
Gordon mentioned the Flyers haven’t been doing enough to draw penalties, which in turn limits power-play time. The Flyers have scored only six power-play goals since the Rangers game on Nov. 23.
“We’ve had a minimum amount of power plays (just 20 in the last eight games),’’ he said. “That’s an area, whether you’re getting one or two power-play goals hopefully a game, we haven’t had a lot of opportunities.
“Usually if you’re outworking the team, you put them in situations where they feel the need to take a penalty. We certainly didn’t do enough of that tonight.’’
There’s no relief in sight either as the Flyers have to play again in less than 24 hours, this time down in Washington on Tuesday night against the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals.
To date, the Flyers are 2-4 on the second half of back-to-backs.
Short shots
Phil Varone and Jori Lehtera were scratched for the Flyers. Defenseman Andrew MacDonald remains injured. . .The Flyers are now 1-18-3 when trailing after two periods.
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