Reasons for Flyers struggles easy to see

It's a far cry from the 4-2-1 start the Flyers had and the emotion and energy with which they played to claim that fourth win, a 3-2 shootout victory, over the New York Rangers on Oct. 24.

A five-game losing streak will make you forget the good.

And watching this team over this losing streak, it's easy to see what has changed that allowed the Flyers to struggle with any aspect of the game, night in and night out.

Offensively, the Flyers are struggling with scoring. Entering Tuesday's game in Edmonton, they were averaging exactly two goals per game. They were also taking the most shots. 

It's important to remember what is considered a "shot" in the NHL. Sometimes, a shot is a dump-in on goal from center ice, nothing close to a quality scoring chance.

Quality wins over quantity a majority of the time. Yes, peppering a goalie with shots makes his night more challenging. Just ask the Oilers. But it's about also making things difficult on a goalie. Which brings us to point two with the struggles.

Sustained pressure. Going to the dirty areas. Going to the net. Following chances with secondary chances, rebounds. That was what made the Flyers look like a good team in wins over Chicago, Boston and New York. Those were the things they stopped doing once the road trip began.

Now, on the other side of the ice, the Flyers are allowing those things to happen too easily. Opposing players are getting to the net, finding the open space, creating chances and following them up with secondary chances.

If you don't clear the front of the net, you are asking to allow a goal. Eventually, even the best goalie will allow a rebound that can't be stopped if the defensemen can't clear the porch. Eventually, a fluky bounce, usually off of one of your own players, finds its way in.

Physical play goes into that quite a bit as well.

On both sides of the puck, the team that is willing to disrupt the play with good, smart hits and active sticks will usually come away with both the better chances and the higher share of goals.

And then there's the special teams power outage. 

Where do you even begin with the power play? It's not just a matter of getting attack time or setting up a play, it's execution. There are times now where the lack of execution isn't just from one pass too many or a shot that doesn't have a prayer of making it to the goalie. There are power play opportunities where the Flyers don't even get set up until the first minute is over.

The penalty kill continues to struggle, but that is two-fold. It's a byproduct of poor positioning from the players that are still here and the absence of key killers Sean Couturier and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

Turnovers. The Flyers continue to be sloppy with the puck. Against Chicago, there was a sense that the team had undergone an entire transformation. Outlet passes were crisp. Chances were there because of good passing. It was quite honestly the best the Flyers had played in a game in October in the last three years.

It's very easy to forget the positives when they aren't consistent. And again, what the Flyers are doing is anything but consistent.

But the problems are certainly visible and easy to identify. The solutions, however, are not, and that is the challenge for Dave Hakstol.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.