When the Flyers exited the month of February, they were one of the hottest teams in the NHL and were pulling away from the playoff bubble line. However, after another loss, the Flyers playoff hopes are now back in jeopardy.
The Flyers lost their 7th game in their last 8 matchups tonight against the Blue Jackets. It was sloppy from the start and this Flyers team is falling apart at the wrong time.
With the cushion from the hot month of February, the Flyers are barely treading water and hanging on to their playoff spot. But, the worse part about tonight’s loss was the fact it came to a team trying to catch them.
Currently the Flyers sit in the 3rd wildcard spot. However, with a charging Panthers team, the Flyers have little to no room to work with. One out of the Flyers, Blue Jackets, or Devils will miss the playoffs if the Panthers keep up their hot stretch.
Here are 4 more observations from the Flyers 5-3 loss to the Blue Jackets…
11 Seconds
11 seconds was all it took the Blue Jackets to get the lead and double the lead.
With 10:19 remaining in the 1st, Columbus scored to open the games scoring. However, just 11 seconds later, they scored again to double their lead.
This is something that has plagued the Flyers all season. The shift after a goal has been troubling for them. Now, it has been mostly after the Flyers scored, but tonight, it was after a Blue Jackets goal.
After the Flyers got down 2-0, it felt like they couldn’t break that barrier the rest of the night.
Mrazek Struggling
After looking like he was going to be the steal of the deadline, Mrazek has gone silent and can not seem to find his form. Going 3-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA & .946% in his first 3 games as a Flyer, Mrazek is 1-5-1 with a 3.71 GAA & .864%.
Now, not all the goals have been his fault. However, over the past 4 games, Mrazek has let in more goals that were his fault than not.
However, the Flyers have a bright spot with Alex Lyon coming in and stopping all 18 shots he faced. But, Lyon isn’t the answer. Brian Elliott is.
Elliott was on the ice before the Flyers morning skate this morning and I would assume they will ramp be his recovery process to help aide the Flyers goaltending issues.
Gostisbehere Ends His Streak
For the first time since February 1st against the Devils, Gostisbehere scored for the Flyers. A stretch of 20 games has plagued the 3rd year pro.
During the stretch, Gostisbehere’s whole entire offensive game kind of went silent. It wasn’t necessarily that Gostisbehere was struggling. No. It was more on the line of the Flyers not scoring that many goals. However, one knock for Gostisbehere was every other defensemen had a goal during his 20-game slump.
But, hopefully, with the goal tonight, Gostisbehere can find his offensive touch again and help the Flyers down the stretch with some timely goal scoring.
No Looking Back Now
When the Flyers were on their hot streak in February, with a loss they could shake it off and oh well. Now, they can not and unfortunately their is no rest or anything getting easier in site.
After tonight, the Flyers schedule gets even tougher. The Flyers will play a back-to-back this weekend in less then 24 hours from puck drop to puck drop. But, after that, it still doesn’t let up as the Flyers will play their remaining 9 games over a 20 day stretch.
With a game every other night basically, the Flyers need to push through the tough times and show why this team deserves to be in the playoffs.
Result : Flyers 3 – Blue Jackets 5, LOSS
Record : 35 – 25 – 11
Next Game : 3/17 Carolina Hurricanes, Raleigh NC, NBCSports Philadelphia 7:00pm
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
