Takeaways from Saturday’s Flyers-Rangers game

Whether or not this current slide hits double digits, it’s wide enough that it doesn’t seem to make a difference. If it takes up to 10 games, Flyers will be able to win two such streaks in the same season, thus essentially giving away a quarter of their season. And it might not even be halfway over when that happens.

Game 37 for the Flyers went as many other games this season have played out. There are mistakes. Had a slow start. Finally, a superior opponent took the throne and took the last two points and left the Flyers with nothing.

It has indeed become a familiar pattern for a team that is always fragile, waiting for the next thing to go wrong rather than doing what can keep the team moving in the right direction. Just like on Thursday night, Rangers The level of skill and talent becomes excessive in a game that is certainly competitive, but not worthy of the end result.

Here are five takeaways from the Flyers’ 3-2 loss to Rangers.

1. Start ‘thrill’

“We had some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of. I think for the most part we looked like a team that was a bit nervous. I think we had the right mindset when we made the first change, we walked out then we made a mistake and the next thing you know it’s coming back to us and we’re trying a little bit. But then once we started to find the attacking mindset, playing in the attacking zone really took just one or two of those shifts to start creating some momentum for us. and then we started going. ”

What are these Mike Yeo said when asked about the first 10 minutes of Saturday’s game. Truth be told, it was a mess.

The Flyers failed to have a shot on target for nearly 11 minutes. They allow the first five shots on goal, one shot is a calculation of power for Mika Zibanejad. Midway through the first half, five-on-five shooting efforts tipped the Rangers in a staggering 16-2 scoreline. Yes, it was a flimsy team that made an early game mistake and never recovered.

Now this is not the case for the game as a whole, and it has indeed proven to be competitive, like the one on Thursday. But basically, being absent for 10 minutes and constantly falling into the pit again is unacceptable.

It goes back to the question of playing with pride. Sure, the season might be out of the question when it comes to the knockout stages. There is no possibility to recover from the hole the Flyers have fallen into. But you can end the season forcefully and decide your fate and the fate of those around you. Too many times, too many players of this team seem to be just trying to hold on for dear life. They appear to be panicking and appear more fearful than assertive.

That’s how this team has completed two seven-game losing streaks this season. The first record lasted up to 10 games before ending. Is there any end to this vision? The Islanders will determine in the next two games if it reaches the top of that elusive number.

2. Southern MSG?

If you didn’t know better, you’d assume the Rangers wore their signature sugar-white sweaters for their home game at Madison Square Garden this Saturday night. That’s how much the presence of Rangers fans stands out.

From the very beginning of the warmups, it was clear that this would be a crowd that was heavily represented by New York. But when Rangers scored the first goal of the game less than six minutes later, the building exploded in cheers. There have been many times the phrase “Let’s Go Rangers!” chants resounded.

Occasionally, you’ll get a few opposition fans who might try to get a chance to go ahead and are quickly drowned out by boos from the home faithful. Despite their best efforts, they still could not stop Rangers fans tonight.

3. Lindblom Evens It Upward

Oskar Lindblom Be one of the best Flyers on ice in this game. He continued to string together some fruitful numbers, scoring his fifth goal of the season and hitting 11 points.

Nine of those points have come in the last 11 games since December 14. He also scored his first goal of the season on December 6, the same day the Flyers made a change of coach.

Since then, Lindblom’s score production has gone hand in hand with his playing partners. He’s better suited to playing with gaming talents, like on Saturdays when Travis Konecny try to focus on the target and have a big rebound for him. That’s the kind of goal Lindblom can score, and it takes better talent to place him in the fourth row to bring out his full potential.

4. Smile for the Orange Age

Orange York has played in five games since being called upon to wrap up the Flyers road trip in Anaheim. Sending him back based on what he’s done will become more of a challenge.

He had a rough night last Saturday against San Jose, trailing minus 2 in a 3-2 loss, but he also got his first NHL point that night with an assist. create.

On this night, the big milestone was his first NHL goal. After being unsuccessfully damaged by Rangers, York steps in and sends a whistle back and forth Igor Shesterkin to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead with 9:49 remaining in the third inning. York was also present in both of the Flyers’ goals in the game.

But beyond production, York continues to exude confidence. He has taken on the challenges of playing against teams like Pittsburgh, Boston, and now the Rangers and completed it perfectly.

5. Sudden death

Just when it looked like York’s first goal would be the momentum move the Flyers needed to reverse their losing streak, they pulled it back. It took just 37 seconds for Rangers to start the game again with some good passes from Ryan Strome arrive Artemi Panarin back before Filip Chytil for the target.

Then, as was the case with the game against Boston, leave it to the top players of the top team to make something happen at a crucial moment of the game. Adam fox, fox keep showing his excellence, get the space and step up with a chance to miss the post of Chris Kreider with 6:30 to play.

Just like Thursday, the Flyers made the game competitive, but couldn’t come out on top at the end. Teams like Boston and Rangers just have too much talent, too much skill and, frankly, too much confidence in their past games to let games like this happen.

When the Flyers return to action on Monday night, they will face a team that may well be too far from the race, despite the number of games they have on hand for, well, the rest of the tournament. But the Islanders have a lot of talent, and that could give the Flyers the right fit if they continue to show how fragile they are.

The outcome could be an eighth, then a ninth, consecutive loss, setting the stage for another likely two-figure losing streak.

Kevin Durso is a Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.

Philadelphia Flyers uniforms through the years