“We sucked. Plain and simple,” Philadelphia Flyers’ captain Sean Couturier bluntly said following the team’s 6-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Couturier was not wrong. The final score did not reflect how the game went. While a three-score deficit, somehow, does not feel like a thrashing, it was a thrashing in South Philadelphia. The team knows it.
“We can’t show up down 3-1, 10 minutes in [to the game]. We have to be better,” said the captain.
Despite scoring the game’s first goal, the team quickly fell behind 3-1 after the Rangers’ first three shots of the game. Aleksei Kolosov’s performance in goal, allowing three goals in a span of 1:20, certainly did the team no favors, but the primary issue was the broken defensive structure.
Couturier said, “We’re putting together a couple of good shifts, and then we make big mistakes that cost us, and we can’t play that type of hockey.” The Flyers captain also said, “As a group, we’re in a funk. We’re trying, I think we’re just not smart right now.”
It’s been a difficult stretch for the Flyers, with everything going downhill after Scott Laughton’s short-handed goal to force overtime in the game vs. the Maple Leafs, which started this losing streak.
Since then, the Flyers have been embarrassed in five-straight games, being outscored 29-11, or 31-12 if you include the overtime loss to the Leafs. The Flyers have allowed 5 or more goals in each of their last five losses.
It’s a tough stretch to be in, and it may be even harder to break out of.
Read More: Flyers Struggles Continue vs. Rangers on Saturday in Sixth-Straight Loss
How can the Flyers end the skid
It’s been a bad stretch for the Flyers, and now, breaking out of it may be even harder. Up next: a trip out West where the Flyers face the Golden Knights, Mammouth, and Avalanche.
Given the difficult task at hand, it could be hard for the Flyers to break out of this skid, especially with how challenging their upcoming schedule is.
Coutruier says the team just needs to stick together and stick to their game. “I think it’s important to stick together,” said Couturier. “There is a lot of pressure and outside noise, but it’s on us to figure it out and stick together, and we’ll come out stronger.”
The veteran center went on to say, “At times, we were disconnected. But like I said, we have to stick together, stick to the way we want to play. We know, we know the kind of game we want to play. We’re just kind of deviating at times, and it’s costing us big time. So I’m going to repeat myself, but we just have to stick together, grind harder, and we’ll get out of it. We’ll get stronger out of this.”
Couturier and the Flyers will play next in Las Vegas, taking on the 23-11-12 Golden Knights on Monday at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Read More: Flyers Center Rodrigo Abols Exits Saturday Game vs. Rangers With an Injury