Morning After: Last second goal helps Flyers salvage point

Wayne Simmonds stayed with the puck and found a way to beat Frederik Andersen in the closing seconds of the third. Unlike Tuesday's result, the Flyers stole a point just before the buzzer.

But the result remained the same, as the Ducks defeated the Flyers in a shootout for the second time this season. It was the Flyers sixth straight loss.

Progress takes many forms, and this was certainly progress. The Flyers were bent on Tuesday and bent further on Wednesday. They didn't break on Wednesday and at least found an answer.

But the Flyers talk about playoff aspirations in a season that has taken a rapid turn south. Instant gratifications is needed. More of the same, even in shootout form, doesn't satisfy.

"We’ll take the one point," Steve Mason said. "It was great to see the guys battle with a couple seconds to go, especially after the way last night went. It's not a way to lose a hockey game. If we were to get scored on in overtime, you can handle it because they would have had to make a play to make it happen."

Perhaps the shootout wouldn't have happened if Matt Read, who has just two goals in his last 20 games, weren't in such a slump and found a way to beat Andersen on a breakaway in overtime. It may also have been avoided if Simmonds heroics weren't preceded by Andrew MacDonald's horrible delay of game penalty that led to the go-ahead goal for Anaheim.

Even while that can't be assumed, the Flyers can blame themselves for missing out on the extra point one way or another. They had a 3-1 lead at the midpoint of regulation after R.J. Umberger of all people snapped a 17-game pointless drought to give the Flyers a two-goal cushion.

The lead went back to one just 28 seconds later. With 54 seconds left in the second, the Flyers surrendered the tying goal.

For once, the Flyers can't fault secondary scoring or lack of offense. While there were some chances in regulation and the shootout that Mason would like back, you can't fault him either. The Flyers team defense cost them the extra point.

"I thought we lost a point," head coach Craig Berube said. "We’re up 3-1, we got to shut the door there. We got to play smarter hockey in that situation. We let them back in the game. Just from defensive mistakes."

It doesn't seem like much, but when you're in a hole like the Flyers are, every point matters if you're still going to bring up the playoffs.

"We've got to do a better job when we go up there 3-1 of controlling the game," Simmonds said. “It’s just the little things that make the difference in the game. But the effort was there."

Additionally, the shootout loss is still just that, a loss. It brings the Flyers losing streak to six. It gives them losses in 10 of their last 11 games. It gives them nine straight road losses. And all of that remains on their shoulders.

"We're being tested right now and it's a pretty crappy feeling coming into the locker room constantly with a sour taste in your mouth," Mason said. "These last two games we've been so close, but close doesn't cut it. We have to find a way to close it out.

"Give the guys credit for taking it to them right to the end, but it’s still a loss."

Winning is the cure, not playing to a tie through 65 minutes and falling in the glorified skills competition.

That said, it was a start, because if not for some last-second heroics, the Flyers wouldn't have been there at all.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.