PHILADELPHIA – If the Flyers needed any more convincing they have hit rock bottom, a 6-3 spanking by the last-place New York Rangers on home ice Saturday afternoon pretty much removed all doubt.
The Flyers’ fifth straight regulation-time loss, which extended their winless streak to six games (0-5-1), has momentarily pushed them out of the playoff picture.
In the last six games, they have been outscored, 31-12.
Philadelphia surrendered one power-play goal, running that total to four over the past two games (they gave up three in a 6-3 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday).
Coach Rick Tocchet was not about to push the panic button. Most teams go through one of these dry spells and he’s seen enough of them to know how the recovery effort works.
“We’re not a team that can open it up,” Tocchet explained after the game. “When you’re a little bit tired, you lose a little bit of confidence, you have to stay with structure. It’s on me to get these guys back on the rail.”
The Flyers showed a little life in the third period but by then it was too late.
“We just have to play a certain way to be able to compete,” Tocchet said. “You saw when we tried to open it up. . .there’s a time and place to go but I think we’re kind of caught in between. We’ve got to get back to our identity and that’s playing smart hockey, playing disciplined.”
New York’s attack was led by Mika Zibanejad’s hat trick and Artemi Panarin’s two-goal effort.
When it comes to slow starts, this one probably ranks as an all-timer for the Flyers.
The Flyers surrendered three goals on New York’s first three shots of the game in a span of a minute and 20 seconds which hushed the sellout crowd at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“We’re getting behind the eight-ball, we’re losing two-, three-nothing before the game starts,” Tocchet said. “You can’t chase.”
Travis Konecny opened the game’s scoring with a shot from the right dot past Ranger netminder Spencer Martin at 6:22. Martin was playing just his third game of the season. Regular starter Igor Shesterkin is injured and backup Jonathan Quick has been ineffective in recent games.
Then the roof caved in on Flyers starting goalie Aleksei Kolosov.
First, Panarin was left open in the left circle and he scored at 7:05.
Just 21 seconds later, Zibanejad took advantage of a New York faceoff win and sent a 40-footer beyond Kolosov’s reach.
Finally, the Rangers broke in three-on-one against Kolosov, who had no chance on Brennan Othmann’s short-range shot at 8:25. It was the Ranger forward’s first goal of the season.
Defenseman Cam York, who was on the ice for four of Pittsburgh’s goals, said there wasn’t a team meeting after the game. Maybe the players could have used one.
“Obviously they (the players) are frustrated,” said York, who was on the ice for four of the New York goals and finished a minus-3. “We’ve kind of just been shooting ourselves in the foot, making silly mistakes. It’s correctible stuff.”
The question is: How soon?
“It’s not that we haven’t done it this year,” York responded. “But we’re going to continue to work at it. Clean it up.
“I think guys are probably overthinking right now. Myself included. Things we haven’t done all year we’ve been doing. It’s been a frustrating go but we have to correct it.”
After the three-goal bushwhack, that was all for Kolosov, who was replaced by Sam Ersson. It was a reversal of Thursday night’s loss in Pittsburgh where Kolosov came in to relieve Ersson.
Zibanejad scored two more goals in the second period as the onslaught continued.
Ersson began the litany of errors by firing a puck over the glass, leading to Zibanejad’s second goal at 5:38 to make it 4-1. Then, at 8:25, the Flyers experienced a complete mental breakdown. That led to Zibanejad’s third goal. Adding insult, many of the Ranger fans in the house started throwing hats on the ice in the time-honored tradition.
Panarin added his second goal at 14:31 before Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim scored shorthanded off a rush with Konecny. A third-period goal by Trevor Zegras made the final score a bit more respectable.
Sean Couturier’s voice was subdued in postgame comments. Losing games in this fashion does not sit well with the captain.
“Down 3-1 in the first 10 minutes or whatever, we’ve got to be better,” he said. “I think it’s important to stick together. A lot of pressure, outside noise but it’s on us to figure it out and we’ll come out stronger.”
>Abols injured
Flyers center Rodrigo Abols was injured at the 6:10 mark of the first period. He collapsed in the offensive zone’s right corner and had to be helped off the ice by two teammates. He did not return to the game.
When asked about Abols’ condition after the game, Tocchet responded: “It’s not good.”
>Konecny milestones
Konecny continues to move up some significant alltime Flyers statistical categories.
On Saturday he played in his 692nd game with the Flyers moving past Simon Gagne for sole possession of 13th place on the team’s list.
Also, Konecny’s 303 career assists are tied with Eric Desjardins for 15th place on the Flyers’ alltime list.
>Short shots
The Flyers begin a three-game trip on Monday with a game at the Vegas Golden Knights. The trip continues with games at Utah on Wednesday and Colorado on Friday. . .Sanheim’s 60 career goals move him past Behn Wilson and into a tie with Shayne Gostisbehere for fifth place on the Flyers’ alltime defenseman goal scoring list. Sanheim also has 54 even-strength goals, which are one behind Ivan Provorov for second on that list.
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