The Flyers had a 3-1 lead with 12 minutes to play in the third period on Friday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. It was going to continue a recent run of success that featured five wins and two overtime losses – points in seven straight games.
The Flyers may have earned a point, but they lost something more important than just the game and the extra point. They lost credibility in the playoff push.
It is certainly extreme to think the Flyers have a legitimate shot at the playoffs given the horrendous November they had followed by months of inconsistency. What the Flyers did was stray from the very task they faced if they – the players who have said for weeks and months on end that they considered this team a playoff team – wanted to indeed reach the playoffs, they had to handle what they could handle, win the games presented to them.
Friday marked the first of four games that favor the Flyers on the schedule. While the teams ahead of the Flyers face difficult schedules during the next week, the window of opportunity was open with the Blue Jackets and Sabres on the schedule.
There are still three games left on that stretch, but if the first game was any indication, the Flyers are not a team revitalized by recently successful play. Instead of making the leap forward and announcing their presence in the playoff race, they faltered, blew a lead and maybe lost their only chance to truly return to the radar.
"There's no excuses," Wayne Simmonds said. "It's great when you have your goaltender playing like that. Everyone in front of him has got to wake up."
Ray Emery made 29 saves, including a few difficult ones, to keep the Flyers in the game. Emery was left out to dry on each of the four goals Columbus scored. In overtime, all four Flyers converged in the slot as two Blue Jackets sat right in the goal mouth. It was an easy rebound goal for Artem Anisimov to cap the Blue Jackets 4-3 comeback win.
"We were up 3-1 in the third. That's not a lead you like to let go," Emery said. "It's frustrating."
Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek each assisted on Simmonds power play goal in the third – his second of the game and 21st of the season – but continued to struggle at even strength play. Both were on the ice as Columbus scored in overtime.
"They're not working hard enough for me," head coach Craig Berube said. "They have to work harder and play a simple game."
Miraculously, the Flyers somehow moved closer to the final playoff spot despite the loss. Boston lost to Vancouver late Friday night, so the Flyers are now seven points out of the final playoff spot. But you wouldn't know it from their own game.
What is baffling is that this team did look like a team desperate for a playoff push. You could see it in the penalty killing and defensive efforts in Washington and Montreal, two difficult buildings for visiting teams. To face a Blue Jackets team that has had as many injury struggles and inconsistent stretches as the Flyers have and lose the way they did is unacceptable at this juncture of the season.
So it's on to Buffalo where more so-called easy points are up for grabs. On Friday, the Flyers grabbed a point for the eighth straight game, but were reminded once again how difficult it really is to get that extra point against even the worse of teams.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
