The Florida Panthers had the first pick of the 2014 NHL Draft in Philadelphia in June. That pick, defenseman Aaron Ekblad, was on the ice for the Flyers first game of November in Florida.
Ekblad and the rest of the Panthers defense contributed to thwarting every attempt the Flyers made to score. The Flyers didn't beat Roberto Luongo until there were under 10 seconds left in the game.
But there was another reason for that. The Flyers, on paper, certainly matched up well with a young Panthers team. The effort simply wasn't there. And it resulted in a more embarrassing loss than any score that could be on the board.
"It discourages me the way we came out," head coach Craig Berube said. "The way we came out in the game really bothers me. Just not competitive. That's the bottom line."
The scoreboard didn't reflect that. It was a 1-0 game into the final five minutes of regulation and aside from a first period where the Flyers were out-shot, 12-9, the shot totals were fairly competitive. In the end, the Flyers out-shot the Panthers, 37-30.
"The best stuff we played is when I was on the bench and we had three and half minutes in their zone," Steve Mason said. "You've got to find ways to win hockey games even when things aren't going your way."
But the Flyers had found a way to win games where they were vastly out-played. So what was different about this game?
For starters, Luongo was on point.
"He was outstanding," Jake Voracek said. "We had good looks and didn’t score."
"Luongo did play well but there is no room for excuses," Wayne Simmonds said. "You have to put the puck in the back of the net. We didn’t start skating until the third period. We have to get faster starts."
Often times, describing the Flyers woes sounds like a broken record. It is always the same issues with this team, year in and year out. Every game, 20 players can try to change that.
"We talked about it before the game. Don’t give them any life, any hope. And we didn’t execute," Mark Streit said. "For us, it’s always the same thing. Skating and moving and we didn’t do enough.
"The next few games at home we need to have good starts."
Tuesday marks the first of four straight home games for the Flyers. That presents a good opportunity for the Flyers to make that change, especially as they face teams that should help them amass some solid points in the standings.
The tough October is over and with that, the Flyers can't hide behind the excuse of being the inferior team. The Flyers were the inferior team on Saturday when they shouldn't have been. Until Tuesday, they get to wallow in a disappointing defeat.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
