(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Wednesday’s Flyers loss to the Capitals was brought to you by the word frustration. That was the common word being thrown around after another loss slipped the Flyers farther back in the playoff race.
After a big win on Sunday kept their dwindling playoff hopes alive, a loss to the superior Washington Capitals looked like the beginning of the end.
Here are 10 Postgame Points from Flyers-Capitals.
- Didn’t this game feel a lot like Game 3 of the first-round series between these two teams last April? The Flyers put together a great opening shift, score a goal (in this game, it was taken away) and then crumble to the mighty Caps. But more than that, the Flyers could be playing their best game of the season, and the Capitals would outdo it. That’s what happens when a borderline playoff team faces an elite team.
- Result aside in this one, this was Claude Giroux’s best game of the season. The energy level was up, he was physical, he was fast, he was active with and without the puck. It’s no secret Giroux hasn’t been playing up to his usual level lately and has seen his decline continue this season, so an effort like this was welcome.
- The disallowed goal in the first for the Flyers was inexcusable. Dale Weise has to know better than to deliberately take his hand off of his stick to even lay a finger on a goaltender. An early goal was just what this team needed. The building was rocking, the team seemed energized from the jump. Perfect start. They trailed by two at the end of the first period. Weise insisted after the game that he was trying to avoid plowing over Braden Holtby and braced himself for contact, but that doesn't change the ruling at this point.
- On to disallowed goal No. 2. First off, this one was legit. The puck hit square off the crossbar. But for the officials to signal goal and blow play dead may have prevented the Flyers from scoring on the same shift. The puck sat in the crease after hitting the crossbar. Ivan Provorov regained possession off of the clearing attempt. Instead, the officials stopped play, only to reveal another no goal.
- Sticking to the second “no goal” for the Flyers, what a read by Provorov. Jake Voracek is looking for a cross-ice pass and the rookie seamlessly jumped into the play. It was a brilliant play that just had an unlucky finish.
- The Flyers got their first power play of the game with just under five minutes to play in the second period, down one. This was their chance to completely be back in the game with an equalizer. Too many shots missed the net on the power play. Possession time is good, but too many off-target shots or shots into traffic that never had much of a chance. To make matters worse, giving up a goal off a defenseman’s stick just moments later and having to face a two-goal deficit going into the third was backbreaking.
- It’s hard to look at Wednesday’s game as a bad loss. On the scoreboard, 4-1 sure looks bad. On the other hand, the Flyers had numerous chances, two believed goals wiped out and many near misses with pucks going through the crease and through Holtby. The effort was there. The puck luck was not.
- Which brings us to the Capitals. Puck luck tends to follow you when the effort is consistently there. As Dave Hakstol said when evaluating his defensemen, there’s no time off against the Capitals. Even their fourth line has superb skating ability and can generate quality chances. It’s funny, we’ve seen this before, where Washington has it all figured out in February and then runs into something in April or May that ends it. Honestly, it’s hard to figure out why they haven’t been able to put it together when they are so well-coached and can out-hustle the best of teams.
- The Flyers struggles to finish on scoring chances has them running in place. Remember the playoffs last year? The Flyers took this same Capitals team to six games and defended very well in most of them. Losses of 2-0, 1-0. Wins by scores of 2-1 and 2-0. In four of the six games, they really defended well but couldn’t score when they needed the big goal. It’s not just bounces not going their way. This team still struggles to finish off chances and it has been apparent for several weeks now.
- A great stat from NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman. On Dec. 16, one day before the Flyers 10-game win streak came to an end, the Flyers had a 19-10-3 record while Washington was 18-7-3. Since then, the Capitals are a whopping 22-5-4. The Flyers are just 9-15-4.
Bottom Line
Nothing like a frustrated, snake-bitten team, who just lost 4-1 on a national stage, to go on a bigger national stage on Saturday and face another superior team defending a Stanley Cup title, right?
The Flyers are clearly a frustrated bunch at this point and missing the playoffs is becoming a more realistic possibility. If the Flyers trade deadline plans were unclear before this game, they should have some clarity now. If they can get anything for an unrestricted free agent not expected to return, do it. Pull the trigger.
The Flyers weren’t victimized by an overly poor start to the season, but peaked in the middle and slipped into a dismal stretch they still haven’t been able to shake. And now that they have to play so many more competitive teams within their division, the chances of them making a push like last season just don’t match up.
So this is where we are. On Feb. 22, the day a miracle happened in Lake Placid, the Flyers need a miracle to save their season. And chances are it isn’t going to come soon enough.
