The Flyers closed out two road games with two losses Tuesday night against the Sabres in Buffalo.
The problem is, Dave Hakstol's club was competitive in losing, 2-1, in Columbus on Sunday.
But not this one.
The Flyers were lifeless and listless during their 4-1 spanking they earned on their own by the Sabres. They were no shows. Despite a push in the third period, this was one of the Flyers' poorer road performances and efforts this season.
With apologies to Bill Lyon, here are 10 things I think I think from this less than thrilling affair in upstate New York.
1. The game was not even six minutes old when Nicolas Deslauriers egged Brandon Manning into a fight. It was rather one-sided, but Manning gets major props for taking on a better fighter than himself. Manning has had four bouts this season and never backs down.
2. The Flyers' power play got one late and is now four for its last 34, but what happened on that first PP? They had six shots - six! - against the 29th-worst penalty kill in the NHL and couldn't dent backup goalie Anders Nilsson. Brayden Schenn had three of those shots, and he scored on the second man advantage, but the game was over by then.
3. Speaking of shots, Shayne Gostisbehere, whose overall game is slumping, had a couple of decent shots in this game at both 5-on-5 and on the power play. Gostisbehere seems like a ghost of himself from a year ago, when he set a Flyers rookie defenseman record with 15 goals. He has just four this season - on course for eight - and hasn't scored in 19 games now.
4. Nice play by Andrew MacDonald, who got turned inside-out by Evander Kane but still forced the speedy winger to the outside for a backhander on Steve Mason. Alas, as the game wen on, MacDonald's defensive play got worse. He finished as a minus-2.
5. The Flyers have had mostly dominant second periods this season, but they more or less rolled over against the Sabres with a poor effort Tuesday. They simply didn't try very hard, which is inexcusable.
6. How do the Sabres get a power-play goal on just one shot? Believe it or not, Buffalo has the higher-ranked PP - seventh vs. ninth. The problem was, the Flyers couldn't get a clear and had a tired group of penalty killers stuck on the ice, while the Sabres moved the puck quickly at will.
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7. Kane has several scoring chances in this game, but for the Flyers to let him scored with 8.9 seconds left in the second period is inexcusable. That made it 3-0. Game, set, match. There is no excuse giving up a goal in the final minute of any period. Period.
8. Claude Giroux has not played very well of late, and hasn't scored in eight games. He was snoozing on the ice in the slot, when he allowed William Carrier an uncontested easy score. The captain was minus-3 in this game.
9. Mason failed to come up with any kind of momentum saves in this one. From a strategic standpoint, he should have been pulled after the second period, if for no other reason than a momentum shift. That said, the Flyers had a series of turnovers and lazy players that allowed that scoring chance at the very end of the period.
10. Don't look now, but the Flyers have lost seven consecutive road games now. They last won on Dec. 14 in Colorado, which was coincidentally was the final win of their 10-game win streak.
