Flyers Hit 10 Straight Losses Again with Defeat to Columbus

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers season is 40 games old. Not even halfway through the season, the Flyers have reached an unenviable marker. At the start of December, they reached 10 straight losses before snapping the streak on Dec. 10. 

Well, it has happened again. For the second time in just 40 games, the Flyers have lost 10 straight games, taking the 2-1 defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Flyers had a pair of power plays in the first period, including one just 28 seconds into the game, but didn't generate much on either. Through 20 minutes, the Blue Jackets held an 11-9 lead in shots.

Columbus appeared to break through for the first goal early in the second period. A prolonged shift led to Carter Hart losing his stick and having to play with a defenseman's stick. Zach Werenski's shot was deflected in off of Oskar Lindblom. However, the Flyers challenged for goalie interference and it was ruled there was interference on the play, keeping the game scoreless.

Despite that, Columbus still scored the first goal of the game. At 11:53, Oliver Bjorkstrand took advantage of a turnover and scored his 12th goal of the season to make it 1-0.

Through two periods, Columbus had a 25-23 lead in shots.

Just under six minutes into the third period, the Blue Jackets got another goal. This time, Patrik Laine had time and space to pick his spot and score to make it a 2-0 game with his sixth goal of the season.

The Flyers got on the board with 7:20 to play. Gerry Mayhew threw the puck on goal from a distance and beat a screened Elvis Merzlikins to make it a 2-1 game with his first as a Flyer.

That was as close as the Flyers would get. In the final minutes, the Flyers could not solve Merzlikins further, taking the 2-1 loss for their 10th straight.

Merzlikins finished with 33 saves in the win. Hart made 27 saves in the loss.

Boone Jenner had two assists for Columbus.

The Flyers return to the ice on Saturday afternoon to take on the Buffalo Sabres at 1 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• CBJ Oliver Bjorkstrand (12) (Boone Jenner, Sean Kuraly) 11:53

3rd Period

• CBJ Patrik Laine (6) (Jenner, Dean Kukan) 5:50
• PHI Gerry Mayhew (1) (Rasmus Ristolainen, Scott Laughton) 12:40

Game Statistics