PHILADELPHIA – They’ve hit bottom, both literally and figuratively.
A disastrous 1-6 homestand, capped by Saturday night’s 5-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Wells Fargo Center, dropped them into the Metropolitan Division basement and just about assured them of a fifth straight season without playoff action.
The Flyers fell into last place by a combination of their defeat and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ win over New Jersey in an afternoon game. They’re eight points out of a playoff spot with just 14 games left to play.
Philadelphia could barely generate any consistent offense and when it did, Carolina goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov had all the answers. It’s the sixth time the Flyers have been shut out this season.
After the game, several players said the homestand’s failure was both disappointing and frustrating.
“It’s frustrating,” Owen Tippett said. “We knew that team was going to check well. We have to come to play each every night no matter what. It’s just a matter of finding ways to stay in games and grind them out.
“Anytime you have a long homestand like this you want to take advantage of it. It’s rare that you get to be home for this long, it’s frustrating the way it turned out. Obviously we wanted to give more to the fans. It’s tough. It can boost or it can kill.”
Noah Cates knows the fans deserve better. Seven straight games and just two points to show for it.
“We almost forgot how we felt after winning at Pittsburgh and Winnipeg,” Cates said. “And now the feeling after this. It’s pretty demoralizing. A few (bounces) didn’t go our way and they cost us.”
Nick Seeler expressed similar sentiments.
“You want to win these games, it’s frustrating,” he said. “Especially at home.”
The Flyers had plenty of chances but just couldn’t finish on a number of occasions.
“I thought we had a lot of good looks,” Seeler said. “But we couldn’t put one in. We just need to compete. Hopefully these bounces are going to go our way soon.”
Fourth-line center Mark Jankowski led Carolina’s offense with a pair of goals against Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson. Jankowski entered the game with a total of just six goals for the season.
The Hurricanes, now winners of seven straight, jumped to a 2-0 lead in a first period which had its share of controversy.
Sebastian Aho opened the scoring with a goal at 8:21. The play was generated by a turnover off the stick of Travis Konecny. The Flyers challenged on the play, claiming goaltender interference. But after a lengthy review, the goal was allowed to stand.
Later, Jankowski scored when Ersson accidentally tipped Eric Robinson’s shot right onto Jankowski’s stick.
Also in the period, Flyers defenseman Cam York was whistled for high sticking. He went to the penalty box but then, after review, the call was overturned.
In the second period it was more of the same. Taylor Hall connected just nine seconds into a power play created by a penalty to Ryan Poehling at the 10-second mark.
Then Jankowski struck again at 13:15. He raced past Rodrigo Abols and fired a short shot which eluded Ersson.
Carolina scored with 31.6 seconds left in the game on a goal by Scott Morrow.
Coach John Tortorella understands the situation. He lost a number of proven scorers over the past month or so, including Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Scott Laughton and Andrei Kuzmenko. Those players are not easy to replace.
“That was a good team we played,” Tortorella said. “They won a lot of battles. It wasn’t for lack of effort. This was an eye-opener. It just gives you an idea of what we need to get to.
“I will not agree one second with the (supposed lack of) effort of our hockey club. We blocked 31 shots (Seeler had six; Tippett and Cam York five). It’s a hard time. We just have to be together, try to help one another out. It’s going to be very difficult.”
>Short shots
The Flyers start a five-game road trip in Tampa Bay on Monday night, then visit Washington on Thursday. . .Philadelphia defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and forward Garnet Hathaway remain injured and did not play on Saturday. . .Former Flyers Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere played on defense for Carolina. . .Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, a former Flyer great, improved his record against his old team to 14-4-3. . .Carolina’s Logan Stankoven had a goal disallowed in the second period when the Flyers challenged for an offsides call and won it. . .The Flyers are 0-4-1 in their last five games against the Hurricanes. . .Philadelphia dropped to 16-19-1 at the Wells Fargo Center this season.
