(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Kevin Fortier, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
For most of the month of December it appeared the Flyers could not lose. They won 10 games in a row from Thanksgiving weekend thru Dec. 17.
Now it seems they are unable to win a game, having lost seven of their last eight games and five in a row.
The 10-game winning streak was the Flyers third longest in team history and the most since November of 1985. Philadelphia is 1-5-2 since their final win of the streak, a 4-3 victory in Colorado on Dec. 14.
Over the course of the last eight games the Flyers offense has struggled mightily. During their win streak they averaged 3.5 goals per game. Since then, they are scoring at a rate of 1.5 goals per game. The Flyers have scored a total of 13 goals in the eight game stretch.
In addition to their overall offensive struggles, their power play that was once tied for first in the NHL has fallen to sixth place. Going back to the Dec. 11, the Flyers power play has converted in 3-of-29 opportunities for a success rate of 10.3 percent.
In the last 10 games the Flyers have scored one goal or less five times.
Flyers netminder Steve Mason, along with fellow goaltender Michael Neuvirth, had a poor start to the season. Mason really stepped up his game though when Neuvirth was injured and lead the Flyers during their winning streak.
Mason was 8-0-0 with a save percentage of .926 and a goals against of 2.33 during that time. However, his play has dropped off again over the last eight games going 1-5-2 with a save percentage of .896 and allowing 2.92 goals per game. It has been even worse in the past five games, where Mason has allowed 4.05 goals per game with a dismal save percentage of .844.
Mason argues otherwise, but having started 22 of the last 24 games appears to have caused some fatigue and sapped some of the strength from Mason’s play.
The extended winless period and poor performance on the ice would provide justification for Dave Hakstol should he choose to make some changes to his lines and or defense pairings. If nothing else, juggling the lines could spark some offensive production from his forward corps.
One of the weak spots the Flyers had going into the offseason last year was on left wing. The Flyers only have one natural left wing on the roster, Michael Raffl. He is being tasked to play and produce on the top line.
Raffl is not a top-line winger. He is more of a checking line, grind-it-out forward who is capable of producing secondary scoring off of his battling style.
Rookie standout Travis Konecny has been slotted in the second-line left wing position since the beginning of the season. He is a natural right wing/center and played very little time on the left side during his career in juniors. Ideally, he would be playing on the right on the second or third line. He could build his confidence and contribute offensively in that role. Currently, he has two goals in his last 25 games on the left side and has been a recent healthy scratch.
With Jake Voracek and Wayne Simmonds ahead of him in the pecking order Konecny can not currently get to the right side. The offseason signing of Dale Weise has caused a logjam on the right as well. He cannot really play anywhere else in the lineup.
Matt Read is also a natural right wing and has told the Flyers management that he really prefers to be play on the right, not the left. He also has been unable to move to his preferred spot.
Through 40 games, the combination of Raffl, Konecny, Read and Chris Vandevelde have only produced a total of 15 even-strength goals on the left wing position. This is obviously a significant weakness in the Flyers roster and something they will need to address down the road, but their hands may be tied for this season.
Given the current streak of poorly played games and the existing roster pieces, Hakstol would have to get somewhat creative if he really wants to spark his team.
Last year, Voracek was struggling to produce and Hakstol put him on the left side with Sean Couturier at center and Brayden Schenn on the right wing slot. The line played well together and was producing points until Couturier was injured.
This could be an opportunity to shake up the lines and give Konecny the opportunity to play in his natural position where he could gain some confidence and potentially begin to produce as he did in juniors.
Hakstol could roll lines of Voracek-Claude Giroux–Wayne Simmonds, Schenn-Couturier-Konecny, Raffl-Nick Cousins-Read and Roman Lyubimov–Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Weise.
Those lines would stack offensive talent in the top six, shake things up and allow Konecny and Read to play at their natural slots, which could hopefully spark their ability to contribute offensively.
The fourth line would also have the ability to continue to be responsible defensively, kill penalties and possibly be more of a threat to chip in the occasional goals.
Currently, the Flyers really only have two lines which are threats to contribute on the score sheet. Adjusting the lines should have the effect of sparking the offense as well as making the Flyers a deeper team and more of a balanced threat nightly.
