(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
After five days off, particularly at a time when fans needed a break, the Flyers returned looking to bounce back from back-to-back games last weekend that were disastrous.
There was no bounce back or turnaround. It was just more of the same.
The Flyers unraveled again on Saturday night in a 4-1 loss to the Devils that just prolonged a stretch of bad play that has now spanned a month on the schedule.
Here are 10 Postgame Points from Flyers-Devils.
- A fresh start from a five-day break brought little change for the Flyers. Yes, there were certainly things out of the Flyers control that helped turn the game, but the Flyers weren’t the better team on Saturday either. The play was sloppy. The game unraveled on them again. And they really seemed disinterested after vowing to come back with a better start following the break. The first period was good. That was about it.
- So, the game-changing moment. Radko Gudas breaks up a two-on-one with a hip check, that by all standards was a clean play. Only Dan O’Halloran whistled Gudas for clipping. Then Wayne Simmonds wants an explanation and the Flyers are rightfully upset at the call and he gets slapped with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. A two-minute 5-on-3 for the Devils only produced one goal, but that was enough to take the Flyers right out of the game mentally. Dan O’Halloran is a veteran referee too, so this is not the type of thing you would expect to happen in a game he is officiating.
- With the exception of the Devils second goal, the game-winner that came on the 5-on-3, the other three goals were the result of mistakes the Flyers were making before the break and continued to make on Saturday. On Pavel Zacha’s goal, they failed to clear the zone. On Miles Wood’s first goal, they got caught in a line change. On Wood’s second goal, the penalty kill got caught chasing the puck and left him alone by the side of the net.
- This was the third time in the last four games the Flyers changed goalies in the middle of the game. That method worked once when the Flyers rallied for a shootout win over Vancouver a couple weeks ago. The Flyers struggles defensively remain a team problem, but the constant changing of goalies, the proverbial goalie carousel, is becoming a tired act. For what it’s worth, the Flyers said after the game that Michal Neuvirth was removed for precautionary reasons.
- The Flyers came out with a strong first period. Up on their skates, aggressive in the attacking zone, they looked like a determined team. They even had a good response to a mistake that ended up in their net with some good, gritty play around the net to tie the game.
- The Flyers power play was a real game-changer in this one too. While the Flyers lone goal came right as a power play expired, the Flyers had several chances to get the lead in the second and then had an early power play in the third where they could have cut the lead to two and maybe made a push.
- Here’s what would seem to be a typical Flyers-Devils stat for you. The Flyers had 85 shot attempts in the game — 36 on goal (20 more than their game in New Jersey last month) 32 attempts blocked and 17 missed shots. The Devils are a very well-coached defensive team, there’s no doubt about that, but the 17 missed shots is alarming. This team has really struggled to hit the net lately. With the game well out of reach, Travis Konecny had a fairly easy redirect chance from the slot that he pushed wide. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but those are the scoring chances where you need to hit the net.
- Miles Wood was really the center of attention. He scored two goals. He took the hit from Radko Gudas that was called clipping and changed the game. He dropped the gloves with Wayne Simmonds. He was the best player on the ice for both sides.
- The Flyers are 2-8-2 in the last month from Dec. 22 to Jan. 21, which both started and ended with losses to the Devils.
- The Flyers have allowed at least four goals in five straight games, totalling 23 in the last five games and 15 in the last three.
Bottom Line
The good news coming out of the break was that the Flyers had essentially gained ground on teams fighting for the playoffs without playing a game. They remained tied for the final playoff spot entering Saturday’s games despite having five days off.
That said, before playoffs can really come into the discussion — and let’s acknowledge that it should given the Flyers position at this point in the season — their recent play isn’t worthy of any discussion at all. This was not a playoff team before the break and they remained that way on Saturday.
What is really disappointing anymore is the way the Flyers have let the games unravel. Yes, the penalty on Gudas and subsequent penalty on Simmonds changed the game. Yes, the game-winning goal for the Devils will be controversial because it, frankly, shouldn’t have been a power play for them to begin with.
That said, it was a 2-1 game. The Flyers got burned with a last-minute goal in the second and never recovered from that. This is a team in need of a morale check, because right now, there is no passion on the ice for the Orange and Black, and that needs to change for them to get back on track.
