ELMONT, N.Y. – So much for getting up for division opponents.
After posting points in three straight games with nearby rivals, the Flyers completed a lost trip to New York on Friday night with a 3-1 clunker at UBS Arena against the bottom-feeding Islanders.
For a second straight night, erratic defense proved the Flyers’ undoing.
All three New York goals were generated off Flyers defenders being either out of position or simply outworked.
The Flyers’ overall record fell to 22-22-6. And their record in the second half of back-to-back games dropped to 1-7-1.
Why can’t the Flyers win a game here or there in the second game when they have to play on consecutive nights? Is it just physical fatigue? Or is there a mental, lack-of-focus hangover as well?
Captain Sean Couturier couldn’t put his finger on an exact reason but knows the Flyers have to do better in these scenarios.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Couturier said. “It’s fatigue but it’s something that I feel last year we were pretty good on back-to-backs. We’re struggling right now (in consecutive games). I can’t pinpoint anything; we used to be better, find ways to get wins.
“Right now we’re not, so it’s an area we have to be better.”
Veteran defenseman Erik Johnson, who had not played since Nov. 20, was pressed into action when Egor Zamula was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury.
He agreed with Couturier that the Flyers need to be better in these crucial matches. The Flyers still have four more sets to play and they could make a big difference in the final standings.
“Tough to not get any points on the back-to-back here,” Johnson said. “We’re in a tight playoff race. It’s unfortunate. I thought we played hard but it really doesn’t matter. You have to get points. Unfortunately we couldn’t do that.”
Coach John Tortorella addressed the issue in some of his post-game comments.
“I thought we played with energy tonight,” he said. “We couldn’t score. We just made two mistakes.”
As was the case in Thursday night’s 6-1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, the Flyers got off to a promising start, only to lose an early lead by surrendering a pair of goals in short order.
Tyson Foerster put the Flyers on the scoreboard first with a goal at the 14:14 mark. He was sent down the left side by way of a feed from Travis Konecny and Foerster fired a shot past Ilya Sorokin.
The Islanders quickly responded. Anthony Duclair took advantage of a nice feed from Brock Nelson and beat Ivan Fedotov with a wide-open shot at 17:08. Then, just 55 seconds later, Bo Horvat got behind defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to make it 2-1.
In the second period, the Islanders picked up a goal from Nelson. Once again, defenseman Travis Sanheim was on the ice and not quite in position to prevent the streaking Nelson from sending a shot past Fedotov at 13:56.
Couturier’s line, which includes Matvei Michkov, has been in a bit of a dry spell in recent games.
“Personally, I think I’m getting some looks, I’m just not finishing,” he said. “It’s tough. You want to contribute more. Make a difference. As a group, we’re not finishing right now. But we just have to stick with it.”
>Responders to be honored
According to the Flyers, on Monday the team will host First Responders Night presented by SERVPRO as the New Jersey Devils visit the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Throughout the evening, the Flyers will host and honor over 3,000 first responders with special in-game recognitions and fundraising initiatives.
As an advocate for local first responders, Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway will personally host 10 firefighters and their families from Philadelphia Fire Department Squad 47 and invite them to meet him postgame in the Flyers locker room.
>Short shots
Alternate head coach Brad Shaw was not at the game. Tortorella called it a “family situation.”. . .Going into Friday night’s game, the Flyers had allowed only one shorthanded goal on the road this season. That’s good enough to put them in a tie for second place (ninth overall) in the NHL. . .After playing in 47 NHL games, Flyers rookie Matvei Michkov stood second among first-year players for power-play points with 14. . .Flyers coach John Tortorella began Friday night’s game needing two games to tie ex-Flyer coach Ken Hitchcock (1,598) for games coached in the NHL. Tortorella’s 1,599th game will put him in seventh place in NHL history. Tortorella stands ninth in wins with 764. . .Johnson said the key to being ready to play on short notice has a lot to do with preparation. “I felt good,” said Johnson, who turns 37 in March. “It’s staying ready, whenever your number is called. Credit the (coaching) staff for working with me after practice. When your number is called, you have to be ready to go.”
