Postgame Perspective: Tougher defenses lie ahead for Flyers

The Flyers started to buzz in the offensive zone as overtime pressed on. The second point was there for the taking and they could taste it.

Roberto Luongo had other ideas.

Luongo stood tall in overtime and in the shootout as the Flyers dropped the final home game of 2014 and of a four-game homestand, 2-1, to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

Just as it was on a 1-2-2 road trip, the Flyers were not satisfied with the results.

"None of us are," head coach Craig Berube said. "We wanted to go 4-0 and it didn’t happen."

"We got one point and again left another one out there," Steve Mason said. "There were some good things and some bad thing but overall, we've got to up our intensity. We got to create more."

The Flyers struggled through the last two games of the homestand against two of the tighter defenses. The Flyers eight-game road trip to close 2014 and start 2015 features the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators, both in the Top-5 in the league in goals allowed per game.

The road does not get easier.

"It's tight out there," Berube said. "There wasn't a lot of room. We had some great chances in overtime and didn't capitalize. And in the shootout, who knows what's going to happen. To me, we're at home, we should get two points."

One thing the Flyers did well throughout the entire homestand was defend. The Flyers limited chances for Florida through the second and somehow escaped what Berube called a slow first period allowing just one goal.

"They took the period over and had the better play," Berube said. "I didn't think we were nervous, but we were kind of waiting around."

"Not the way we wanted to start at all and I don’t know if we were gripping our sticks too tight and kinda blocking ourselves," Mark Streit said. "Just go out there and play and use our speed. Play and relax. We didn’t do that until the last period. That’s something you gotta do 60 minutes."

The Flyers have said time and time again that they believe they are still a playoff team. The road trip will serve as a perfect indicator of where the Flyers stand.

Facing tough defenses, offense will be at a premium. And it will take a few wins in low-scoring games for the Flyers to prove they are ready for the long haul.

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