Flyers Vs. Islanders: GM Chuck Fletcher Set to Face Woes After 13th Straight Loss

With Fletcher set to face woes, Flyers set franchise record with 13th straight loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers' organization, which was birthed in 1967, has never seen a losing streak as long as this one.

The club dropped its 13th consecutive game with a 4-3 decision Tuesday night to the Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

A day after matching the franchise's worst-ever skid with their 12th straight loss, the 2021-22 Flyers set a new mark for futility.

Their season started to waver when they lost 10 straight (0-8-2) from Nov. 18 to Dec. 8. Things have now careened completely off course as the Flyers have gone 0-10-3 in this 13-game free-fall, a demoralizing stretch in which they've been outscored 50-26.

Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher will hold his midseason address Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET in Voorhees, New Jersey. It won't be a rosy session. Not only are the Flyers stuck in the franchise's worst-ever skid, but they're also on pace to miss the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since the 1992-93 and 1993-94 campaigns.

As we noted three days ago, there are franchise-altering decisions ahead. Nothing has gone as the GM envisioned after he had a busy offseason trying to retool the club.

The Flyers (13-22-8) have gone 7-20-6 after starting 6-2-2 in their opening 10 games.

Mike Yeo, who will remain the interim head coach for the remainder of the season, is 5-12-4 since taking over the reins Dec. 6 when Alain Vigneault was fired. Yeo will have some help the rest of the way from another assistant coach as the Flyers hired John Torchetti on Tuesday. He's expected to join the club this week.

The Islanders (15-14-6) were the far better team Tuesday night, outshooting the Flyers 33-17. They've handed the Flyers three of their 13 losses in a row.

After Gerry Mayhew drew the Flyers even with an early third-period goal, Zach Parise scored the game-winner for New York just as a power play expired. The goal came with 8:09 minutes left in the game.

• Claude Giroux and Justin Braun handed the Flyers a rare 2-0 cushion in the first period.

Thanks to goals from Noah Dobson and Anders Lee, the Islanders erased the advantage in under five and a half minutes.

The Flyers have not held a lead at first intermission in the year of 2022, a span of 12 games.

Once Mathew Barzal put New York ahead 5:42 minutes into the second period, the Flyers were in real trouble. They had not scored more than three goals in a game during their previous 12 losses. They were going to need at least four to avoid a 13th straight defeat once Barzal lit the lamp on the power play.

Zack MacEwen committed a pair of penalties and the Flyers failed to kill his second one.

Morgan Frost had a costly delay-of-game penalty in the third period.

• Playing in his 965th consecutive game, Keith Yandle set the NHL's new ironman record, eclipsing Doug Jarvis' previous mark of 964 straight.

Teammates rocked shirts saluting Yandle's achievement. The NBC Sports Philadelphia showed the 35-year-old defenseman's family and friends in attendance to witness the record.

"I remember Ray Whitney said to me when I was young, he said, 'As long as there's an NHL symbol on your jersey, that means you're having a good day,'" Yandle said Sunday. "I haven't taken that for granted."

• Martin Jones was back in net after being yanked during the first period of the team's 11th straight loss, a lopsided 6-3 decision last Saturday to the Sabres.

The 32-year-old hung in there, making 29 saves.

Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin entered 6-0-1 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in his career against the Flyers. The 26-year-old needed to stop only 14 shots Tuesday night.

• Linus Sandin, a 25-year-old Swedish winger, made his NHL debut. He had a shot and two blocked shots in 6:59 minutes.

Connor Bunnaman entered the lineup for Jackson Cates and won 6 of 10 faceoffs in 8:27 minutes.

The Flyers are still without Joel Farabee (upper body), Kevin Hayes (abdominal), Sean Couturier (upper body), Ryan Ellis (lower body), Derick Brassard (hip), Nate Thompson (shoulder), Patrick Brown (MCL sprain) and Wade Allison (MCL sprain).

• The Flyers have three days before their next game Saturday when they host the Kings (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

You can live stream Fletcher's press conference right here on NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com.

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