The month of January began with two satisfying wins for the Philadelphia Flyers, but it has been mostly downhill from there.
The Flyers will try to end the month on a high note when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon.
Philadelphia opened January with consecutive 5-2 wins against the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks, the second victory highlighted by two goals from Trevor Zegras against his former team. The Flyers, however, have dropped 10 of their last 12 games (2-8-2) since those morale-boosting victories.
“It’s not gone our way, but we should still be confident,” Philadelphia defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen said. “We’ve showed it early in the year, we’ve showed it in some games here and there that we can be a good team against anyone we play against. We’ve just got to figure it out and stop the bleeding.”
The Flyers most recently lost 6-3 at the Boston Bruins on Thursday, their third straight defeat. Philadelphia fell behind 2-0 after surrendering two goals 41 seconds apart midway through the first period and never got any closer.
“Right now, we’re just trying to find a way to get back on track,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “No one is going to be sorry for us, so it’s on us to get going, to be better and to find ways to get wins. We’ve got to get back to the basics and focus on ourselves.”
Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist against the Bruins after recording a hat trick the previous night in a 5-3 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“He’s been playing good lately and making a huge impact for us,” Couturier said of Konecny. “It’s time for other guys, including me, to start producing offensively. It’s been a tough stretch personally, and I’ve got to find a way to help the team in that area.”
Samuel Ersson gave up five goals on 20 shots before leaving in the second period against Boston because of a lower-body injury. Dan Vladar replaced him and stopped all six shots he faced in the third.
“He was kind of hurt a little bit,” coach Rick Tocchet said of Ersson. “I didn’t want to put [Vladar] in, but we had no choice.”
The Kings have been trying to get on a hot streak for most of the season.
They had won three in a row before a 4-1 loss at the red-hot Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
“Frustrating game,” Kings defenseman Cody Ceci said. “(Buffalo) got a lucky bounce early and we had some looks and just didn’t capitalize. We didn’t play terrible, but we’ve still got to find a way to win the game.”
Like the Flyers on Thursday, Los Angeles also gave up two goals in the first period to fall behind 2-0 and never recovered.
“We just can’t get down by two. It’s hard for our team,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “We’ve created a lot of chances, had a lot of shots, attempts all that stuff, layer them on. Can’t get down by two. Unfortunately, our margin for error is just thin.”
Adrian Kempe scored the lone goal against the Sabres to stretch his point streak to five games (three goals, two assists).
–Field Level Media
