Wayne Simmonds: ‘It's All About How We Respond' Following End of Streak

One rather important streak has ended for the Flyers – 10 wins in succession.
 
Yet another is still in place as they host the Nashville Predators on Monday night. The Flyers have won six consecutive home games.
 
General manager Ron Hextall says he’s curious how his club will respond after having success for so long and then losing, 3-1, in Dallas, essentially, because of one very poor period of hockey.
 
“I think human nature is we're disappointed right now and you come back and maybe there's a little bit of a letdown,” Hextall said on Sunday. “I'm interested to see which way that goes."
 
So are his players after an optional morning skate at Wells Fargo Center. The mood was upbeat today.
 
“We’re weren’t down at all [Saturday],” said Jakub Voracek. “We lost the game. It had to happen sooner or later.
 
“We said right away in the locker room, you gotta make sure to regroup and get ready for Monday. It’s the NHL. You’re not going to win every game.”
  
The Predators have not been playing well. They’re 1-3-1 in their last five and 3-5-2 in their last 10. The Flyers defeated them 15 days ago in Nashville, 4-2.
 
Dominating defenseman P.K. Subban was in the lineup that night. Subban, however, who missed a game this weekend, is expected to remain out of the lineup with an upper body injury. If that’s the case, it’s an advantage for the Flyers.
 
“P.K. plays a strong game – a strong offensive player and strong defensively,” Wayne Simmonds said. “They got [Ryan] Ellis back in the lineup tonight who wasn’t playing last night. He’s not as strong as P.K. Still a great player in his own right.
 
“We got to make sure we’re worried about ourselves. We don’t have any special plan just because he’s out of the lineup.”
 
Simmonds said he expects the Flyers to come out banging against the Predators with no one hanging their head just because the win streak has ended.
 
“It’s all about how we respond,” he said. “We have to come out for shift one and play a strong, 60-minute effort. We got to go.
 
“We’ve got no time to sit back and process what happened [in Dallas]. Although we lost the last game, we want to get back up on the horse and have a strong effort.”
 
Steve Mason will again get the start in goal.
 
“There’s always a sense after a loss to get back in the win column,” Mason said. “What defines good hockey teams is everyone loses games. It’s a matter of nipping it in the bud after one and not letting it become two, three or four.
 
“You don’t want to counteract all the wins we put together with losses in a row. We want a strong showing tonight.”
 
The Flyers last loss before their win streak began saw them 6th in the Metro Division and 12th overall in the Eastern Conference.
 
When the streak ended on Saturday, they were 5th in the Metro and 6th overall in the East, holding the second wild card.