They managed to avoid a prolonged slump for the first half of the season so maybe the Flyers have forgotten how to stop one.
That’s been apparent in the last five games, in which they have gone winless (0-4-1), including Thursday night’s 6-3 blowout loss at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.
Special teams were prominent on this night. Three of the six Pittsburgh goals came on the power play. The Flyers went zero for four with the man advantage and those two performances played a big part in the outcome.
The Flyers have dropped four straight decisions in regulation time, including a current back-to-back, after losing a back-to-back in regulation time just once in the first half of the season. In their five-game winless streak, they have managed to score a total of just nine goals while giving up 25.
With regular starting goaltender Dan Vladar injured, the Flyers had to rely on backup Sam Ersson, for at least for a little over one period. After allowing three goals, Ersson was pulled early in the second in favor of Aleksei Kolosov, just called up from Lehigh Valley.
Ersson wasn’t playing all that badly. It might have been simply a change by coach Rick Tocchet to energize his team.
Several questionable penalty calls on the Flyers led to Pittsburgh taking a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Pittsburgh opened the scoring at 2:16 of the first period on a power play courtesy of a Cam York penalty. Justin Brazeau stood unguarded at the post and was able to guide an entry pass into the net.
The Flyers have allowed an opponent to score first 32 times this season, tied with Nashville for the NHL lead in that category.
A borderline tripping call against Garnet Hathaway led to Pittsburgh’s second goal at 12:25. Bryan Rust connected for Pittsburgh.
After Pittsburgh’s third goal early in the second period, the Flyers finally heard a wakeup call. Rodrigo Abols guided in a York shot 2:17 past goalie Stuart Skinner.
However, that goal was countered by the Penguins with 1:31 to play. Kolosov failed to cover a loose puck just inches away from his stick. The puck was lifted off his shoulder and across the line by Noel Acciari.
In the third period, Sidney Crosby scored at 3:10. It was career goal number 60 vs. Philadelphia. The Penguins quickly added a sixth goal, this by Connor Dewar at 4:27.
Later, Nick Seeler scored his second goal in seven games after going 83 games without one. Matvei Michkov added a late goal for his 10th of the season.
>Kolosov recalled to spell Vladar
With Vladar sidelined, Kolosov was recalled from the Phantoms. With the Phantoms, Kolosov has played in 19 games at the AHL level. He is 9-9-1 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. He also had played in two games for the Flyers with a 1.62 GAA.
While there’s no official report on a timeline for Vladar’s recovery, he has not yet been put on injured reserve, which would keep him out for a minium of a week.
>Defense pairing reunited
Travis Sanheim and York were back together after they played apart at Buffalo. Also, Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae formed the second unit and Noah Juulsen joined Seeler on the third.
>Short shots
The Flyers return to the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday afternoon to play host to the slumping New York Rangers. Stuck in a lengthy slump, the Rangers have slid to the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings.
Crosby’s assist on Pittsburgh’s second goal was the 138th career point he’s recorded against the Flyers. Also, the goal he scored was the 650th of his career, leaving him second among NHL active players behind only Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. . .Penguins now 9-0-2 vs. Flyers in last 11 home games.
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