Steve Mason and the Flyers have just two points to show for solid efforts in their first four games. (Photo by Amy Irvin/38Photography)
Jake Voracek fired a backhand to the top shelf with 5:20 to go in the third period. It helped the Flyers get a point in Tuesday night's game against the Ducks.
But at the end of the night, the Flyers were still winless through four games, following a 4-3 shootout loss. They have two points in the standings, the same as they did following eight games last season.
The Flyers 0-2-2 record resembles last season's slow start. It is just the fourth time in franchise history the Flyers have gone winless through the first four games of the season.
That said, the Flyers have performed better than the results have shown. In the last two games, the shootout proved to be the difference, leaving the Flyers with nothing but two points to show for a efforts good enough for wins.
"We're putting it together; we're showing that we can play in spurts," Wayne Simmonds said. "But we have to play for a full 60 minutes or we're not going to win."
Simmonds certainly doesn't have to defend himself. He added a power-play goal to increase his season total to five, second in the league.
But Simmonds alone can't give the Flyers wins.
Look at the season. The Flyers nearly stole the opener in Boston. They played a lackluster game against the Devils and again, nearly won. They let a point slip away against Montreal after playing two dominant periods. And on Tuesday, a two-goal deficit was erased before another crucial mistake put the Flyers in a hole again.
"We were playing well," Nick Schultz said. "The second period was a big bounce-back period for us after the first. We had the momentum heading into the third."
It was Schultz who collided with Sean Couturier, allowing Matt Belesky to get free in front of Steve Mason for the easy goal with under 30 seconds remaining in the second.
"We made a couple of mistakes, and they capitalized," head coach Craig Berube said. "The third goal is a mistake that can’t be made. But other than that, the guys played hard and did a lot of good stuff."
Berube called the Flyers effort their best over 60 minutes in the early going this season.
With just two points to show for their first four games, the Flyers are officially off to another slow start. A win on Saturday will erase that.
As Claude Giroux said after the game, "The game that we play all three periods we're going to be dangerous."
For now, that is just a thought.
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
