The story of Friday night's game was Claude Giroux. His injury in the third period seemed to put an end to the Flyers season as he was helped off the ice with what appeared to be a serious injury.
The Flyers went on to finish the game without the captain, suffering a fourth straight loss as the lowly Carolina Hurricanes claimed a 2-1 win. The game seemingly felt like a win when Giroux came out after the game and was reported to be fine and likely to play on Saturday in New Jersey.
"I know I got lucky," Giroux said. "It was pretty scary. I tried to put pressure on it and it felt weird. I kind of panicked a little bit. I didn't help the cause by panicking. My first reaction was [Erik] Karlsson and what happened to him."
Still, the issue remains that the Flyers started off on this road trip like gangbusters only to slip back into bad habits that cost them points. They got six points in the first three games. They have just one in the four games since.
The fact that Giroux will return – if not tomorrow then early next week for sure – keeps the Flyers dimming playoff chances slightly lit. It doesn't mean anything will change.
Giroux is one of the players that makes this team worth watching. This is one of the game's elite players, regardless of how the rest of the team plays, and he can change a game at any moment. The Flyers were on their way to a win on Wednesday with Giroux's highlight-reel goal before eventually dropping the game in overtime.
That's what Giroux brings. But once again, the rest of the team didn't bring much of anything to the table.
"All games we lose eat away at us," head coach Craig Berube said. "All of us. It doesn't matter who it is. We're here to win games no matter who we're playing. It doesn't eat away at me any more than any other game we lose."
The Hurricanes had a whopping 10 wins all season and the Flyers had lit them up for a 5-1 win on Dec. 13. That was three weeks ago. Suddenly, the Hurricanes looked like a formidable team.
It was a particularly bad game for Mark Streit and Matt Read. Streit rarely makes mistakes the way he did on Friday. Read played what may have been his worst all season. Andrew MacDonald and Braydon Coburn continued to struggle. Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier: still invisible. If not for the fourth line, it would have been another shutout.
The Flyers return home on Tuesday and face the Ottawa Senators. Then comes a wave of tough games: Washington, Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington again and Vancouver, all in a matter of eight days. If this road trip wasn't the make-or-break point of the season, that stretch of games will definitely be it.
And by the looks of things, it will just break the Flyers further.
The Hurricanes entered tied for the fewest points in the NHL. They controlled a majority of the game. It is a concerning sign that a team that constantly thinks they have a chance at the playoffs, yet has consistently ranked among the bottom 10 teams all season, would play like that against the worst team in the Eastern Conference.
"It doesn't matter who you're playing, when you come away with zero points, it's not a good result," Steve Mason said. "Today was a game we needed to win, should have won. We came out flat."
Giroux's injury was significant to his career long-term. If it was something like an Achilles injury that would threaten into the 2015-16 season, then you have a legitimate reason to panic. If Giroux misses one game, which would certainly be the maximum at this point, it still doesn't mean much for this season.
The season is not half old, and yes, it was too early to throw in the towel as the Flyers prepared for the road trip. But just as they got going, they faded again. Bad habits will get you into big trouble and put you in a hole that you can't climb out.
This loss, unlike the others, wasn't on the forefront. But as long as Giroux suits up on Saturday, it goes down as another wasted opportunity to continue a playoff push that was already fading and keeps slipping further and further away.
Judging by the looks of things, having Giroux won't change the course any in the coming weeks either.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
