Nicolas Aube-Kubel

From a mid-January start with some early positive results to one final win/loss to the New Jersey Devils in mid-May to conclude the 56-game campaign, here are five takeaways from the season.

Joel Farabee not only finished the season as the Flyers leading scorer, but also capped off his season with a pair of goals to reach the 20-goal mark in just his second NHL season. His two goals helped pave the way for a 4-2 Flyers win over the Devils to close out the 2020-21 season on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Alex Ovechkin scored another pair of goals to bring his season total against the Flyers to eight and his career total to 730, as the Capitals handed the Flyers a 6-3 loss on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.

Less than 24 hours before the trade deadline, the Flyers were left with a stunning defeat to the Buffalo Sabres, the NHL lowest team in the standings, handed a loss by lowly Buffalo for the second time in two weeks. It was the most fitting of endings for a team that has continued to get in their own way all season.

The Sabres tied the game with 3:03 left after an icing by the Flyers, then scored again with 2:38 to play to take the lead away from the Flyers in a matter of 25 seconds. Buffalo also managed the empty-netter to secure the 5-3 result on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.

Thursday night was a really good game from the Flyers if you are strictly looking for positive building blocks moving forward. There were two very notable areas that stepped up and helped get the game to overtime and put them in a position to win. But if you were strictly looking for two points and a chance to stay in the playoff race even just for a little longer, it was another night where even a solid effort came up short.

The Flyers got one point by getting Thursday’s game against the Islanders to overtime, but suffered the same fate as their previous game in Long Island, falling in a shootout, 3-2.

The Flyers may be sitting fifth in the East, three points out of a playoffs, still very much mathematically alive. But their defense is in shambles. Almost every core player that was expected to produce on the higher end offensively has shown struggles. The goaltending has been questioned. To put it simply, the Flyers are a mess right now, and it’s become clear that the current system is just not working.

Monday’s game was a battle royale of mediocrity. This was a game that probably played out exactly as it should have in both result and process. Yes, the Flyers are a better team than the Sabres. The standings certainly reflect that. But for 40 minutes, they weren’t close to that, so much so that they not only once again dug a hole to the worst team in the league, requiring another frantic third-period rally, but they also had to shorten the bench to do it.