Their level of play remains high but the Flyers still can’t find a way to get it all the way over the top.
Despite keeping the score close for a third straight game on Monday night, the Flyers fell once again, this time by a 4-1 score — including two Tampa goals in the last three minutes — to the Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.
There were some bright spots for the 0-2-2 Flyers, including a good bounce-back effort from goaltender Dan Vladar.
Ultimately, the Flyers were outshot by a 36-14 margin and that’s simply not acceptable in the coach’s office.
Coming off a 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh, Vladar looked much steadier against a high-powered Lightning offense.
Down 2-0 in the second period, the Flyers drew close on Tyson Foerster’s goal at 7:22.
The play started with a shot by Foerster. The puck went into a scrum of players and got past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Flyers have been outshot, 158-76, in their first four games. That minus-82 is the second-worst negative number in the NHL since the 1959-60 season.
“There’s not enough compete in this group right now and it’s on me,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “It starts with me. This team is way too comfortable.
“And they did not compete today.”
Vladar kept the Flyers in it but there’s only so much a goaltender can do.
“Our game is not at the level that I think it should be,” he said. “We have to be better.”
Added Porter Martone: “We expect a lot more. You can’t be outshot like that. They’re a good team but we’ve got to come to battle. Hockey is a mindset and it’s how you respond. We have the people, we have the skill. It’s just doing it.”
Vladar was sharp in the first period but the Flyers still came out of it on the short end of a 1-0 score.
Philadelphia managed only three shots in the first 20 minutes and surrendered nine.
The Lightning finally broke through at 16:05. Brayden Point beat Trevor Zegras on a faceoff, drew back to defenseman John Carlson and was set in position to tip in the point shot.
Just 17 seconds into the second period, the Lightning struck again. This time Tampa broke up ice with an extra man on the rush. Pontus Holmberg found an opening in the defense and beat Vladar from close range.
>Jiricek, Benoit both play
With defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen sidelined by a left hand injury suffered in Saturday’s game vs. Carolina, both Simon Benoit and David Jiricek were pressed into action. It was the first time the two played in the same game.
Cam York was moved up to fill in the vacancy created by Ristolainen’s absence. York and Sanheim had played together before Ristolainen returned from injury last year.
>Power-play struggles continue
Another game, another zero in the Flyers’ power-play category.
Tocchet sounds perplexed by this lack of success in a very important area.
“I looked at the power play last game (vs. Carolina),” Tocchet said at the morning skate. “We had like four glorious chances and there were four not smart plays. We need to be more consistent, we’d like to have guys bear down when we have it, we have to score. If that doesn’t happen, we can’t all of a sudden panic.”
>Short shots
The Flyers return to action on Thursday when they visit the Ottawa Senators. They will practice on Tuesday and then have Wednesday off. . .Christian Dvorak entered Monday night’s game with five goals in 18 career games against the Lightning. . .The Flyers’ 0-2-2 start matches their slowest since they went the same mark at the beginning of the 2014-15 season. . .Tampa had a goal disallowed at 2:58 of the third period when officials ruled Brandon Hagel interfered with Vladar. . .Martone went off for concussion testing in the third period but returned for the final minute of play.
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