PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Barring a remarkable rally, paired with an epic collapse by Boston, in the coming weeks, the Flyers are going to miss the postseason and continue their recent pattern of going every other season without making the playoffs.
It's safe to say expectations were much higher going into this unusual and shortened 56-game season. The reality is that, since the beginning of March when the Flyers were 11-4-3, they've gone 8-13-3 in the 24 games that followed.
"This is a team that's in need of a major makeover, and it's gonna be a busy offseason for (President of Hockey Operations and General Manager) Chuck Fletcher," NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst, WIP host and former Flyer Keith Jones said on NBCSP's "Flyers Postgame Live" after Tuesday's 6-1 blowout by the Washington Capitals in D.C.
"This is not something you fix overnight. This is not something you fix in a week, and this is something that I don't think any of us saw it coming with before the drop of the puck on opening night. This season has turned into a disaster right now."
With 14 regular season games, two fewer than the Boston Bruins, the Flyers trail the B's by six points for the final playoff spot in the East Division — fourth place. The New York Rangers are two points ahead of the Flyers for fifth.
It's fair to deduce that's why Fletcher chose to be a seller at Monday's trade deadline rather than make any additions. After Tuesday's lackluster loss, head coach Alain Vigneault was asked if he sensed players were frustrated by how the deadline went.
"I can't answer how the players feel," Vigneault said. "I'm not a mind reader. I will say this was our sixth game in nine nights, and that's a tremendous amount of hockey."
Vigneault said during his postgame session that he didn't want the condensed pandemic schedule to be an excuse. Washington scored four goals on the Flyers in the first period, getting 19 shots on net to the Flyers' nine.
"I obviously didn't like at all the way we came out. Not the way you give yourself a chance against such a strong opponent," Vigneault said.
After the deadline passed on Monday, Fletcher said he would not consider changes to the coaching staff.
This was the seventh time this season the Flyers lost by at least five goals. Five teams have defeated them by that margin this season. The two teams who haven't are the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils.
Their shortened schedule comprises only seven teams. Fittingly, of the 14 games left, five are against Jersey and three are against Pittsburgh. While it's "tick-tock tick-tock" on the Flyers' playoff hopes, there is still time for every East opponent to embarrass them at least once.
