By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With just three games left in the regular season, there is still very little room for error. The Flyers made too many errors for a team in position to clinch a playoff spot, especially against a team that is playing spoiler.
In the end, it was a regulation loss to the New York Islanders, the first of three non-playoff teams the Flyers will play to close the season, that started a snowball effect on a flurry of bad results for the Flyers.
Let's hit it with our Postgame Review.
Postgame Points
- Not Ready for Primetime? - Following this game, several of the Flyers, including coach Dave Hakstol, noted that there wasn't enough generated in the first period and that the team was too flat. How exactly does that happen at this point in the season?
The Flyers have been notorious for bad starts, but when the task at hand is staring you in the face, you cannot come out like that and expect to come out unscathed.
It helped that the Islanders weren't all that sharp in the first 20 minutes either. Aside from a power-play goal, they really didn't take advantage of a sloppy and sleepy period by the Flyers and the Flyers struck for a late goal to keep things tied after 20 minutes.
But to knowingly come out at this stage of the season and say that they weren't prepared or weren't sharp enough at the start is past alarming at this point.
- Burn the Tape - Need I say more about the second period?
The middle 20 minutes might as well have not existed for the Flyers. They were outshot, 17-6. The Islanders completed had their way with the Flyers in all facets of the game. This was a bloodbath, a brutal massacre. If you didn't know any better, you would think the Flyers were the team playing out the final week of the season and the Islanders had a reason to play.
That kind of performance is inexcusable. The nonchalant turnovers in the neutral zone are beyond frustrating. The lack of skating and defensive coverage is alarming. This is why the Flyers, through 80 games, have perfectly been consistent in wins and losses. They have 40 wins and they have 40 losses. In the NHL, since getting games to overtime is rewarded, you can still make the playoffs on that kind of mediocrity.
But you can't make the playoffs with games like that. To literally play your worst period of hockey in the 80th game of the season cannot be overlooked. The Flyers just never seem to be able to move past the mistakes. And it's not all because this team is young. Veterans are making obvious mistakes that are costing this team.
- A Furious Rally – For as bad as the second period was, the Flyers played a tremendous third period. They needed the power play they got early in the period just to have a chance against the NHL's worst penalty kill. They scored then.
When they got a second one just a few minutes later, still in the first 10 minutes of the period, there was a chance to really make this a game again before it felt like time was running short. They did.
At even strength, they kept their foot on the gas and pushed until the tying goal was scored, on a perfect shot by the captain no less.
The Flyers only mistake of the period was a bad pinch by Ivan Provorov and an even poorer backcheck by the forwards of the fourth line. Rookie sensation Mathew Barzal did the rest. The Flyers could never get the game tied back up.
The rally was great and the Flyers were very much in the game right to the end, but for it all to be erased by one mistake is just as frustrating as the first 40 minutes.
- A Subtle Switch Pays Off - In the third period, Dave Hakstol made a very subtle but significant change to the power play. Wayne Simmonds, who was responsible for the turnover on the Islanders third goal and had played a poor game overall, was off the top power-play unit for Nolan Patrick.
The kid delivered with both power-play goals to cut the lead to one. And both were the result of gritty plays at the front of the net.
It's early to say this, but it could be signaling the passing of the guard. Simmonds' play has left a lot to be desired in the second half of the season, and whether that is health related or otherwise is beside the point. Patrick is emerging as the top prospect, potential future superstar that should be on the ice in those situations. The move paid off in this game. The Flyers may want to revisit it for the final two games of the regular season as well.
- Make or Break - Not only did the result in Brooklyn go against the Flyers, everything else in the playoff race went against them too.
The Devils cruised to a 5-2 win over the Rangers. That vaulted them over the Flyers with 95 points.
The Blue Jackets were on the ropes against the Red Wings, but rallied for a third-period tie and won in overtime to remain in the third in the Metro at 96 points.
The Panthers had a 2-0 third-period lead against the NHL's best team, the Nashville Predators, but appeared to lose the lead in the final second of the third as a loose puck behind Roberto Luongo was poked in by Filip Forsberg to tie the game and force overtime. Until the goalie interference rule — that no one understands — reared its ugly head into the picture. The goal was disallowed and the Panthers won in regulation, 2-1.
With that, the Flyers dropped a spot in the standings and gained no ground at all. They still need a combination of three points to clinch a playoff spot.
Perhaps bigger than the magic number holding at three is the change in position. Finishing in the second wildcard spot would give the Flyers a date with either the Boston Bruins or the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, whichever team comes out as the Atlantic Division champions. That is essentially a death sentence. Against the Washington Capitals, the Metro Division winner as the first wildcard, the Flyers would have a more ideal matchup and perhaps a chance to make some noise in a series.
At this point, it doesn't matter, because the Flyers missing the playoffs altogether would be more embarrassing than a first-round series against a far superior team. But the object is that the Flyers talked a big game about being able to control their own destiny. They still do when it comes to clinching a spot, but they no longer control their own destiny in finishing in a higher seed or facing a more ideal opponent.
Play of the Game
Claude Giroux scores his 30th goal of the season with a perfect shot from the right circle to tie the game.
By the Numbers
The stat that tells all about the second period. The Flyers had six shots on goal in the second period. The Islanders had 17, but also had 10 high-danger scoring chances, four more HDSCs than the Flyers had shots.
Even in the third period, the Islanders had seven high-danger scoring chances to three for the Flyers at 5-on-5 and a 51.85 CF%.
The Islanders also crowded the net for the entire game, while the Flyers struggled to generate traffic at 5-on-5.
