In recent seasons, the Flyers have been prone to at least one prolonged losing streak per season. Historically, they have had hit the skids for several weeks at a time (usually in December and/or January). Coming off a horrendous 5-0 shutout loss to Florida in their final game before their eight-day break and a 6-2 fiasco in Vancouver last night, the club's immediate challenge is to nip the situation in the bud before it snowballs out of control.
First order of business: Play defense like you mean it. The Flyers have been strafed for 11 goals over the last two games. Sure, it hurts to be without Chris Pronger, but there is supposed to be enough talent in place to compensate when needed. Besides, defense is reflection of team-wide commitment and relies just as much on the forwards as the men on the blueline. There has been absolutely zero backchecking support from the forwards over the last two games and you could drive a truck through the gap on breakout attempts.
There is not a single positive thing that the Flyers can take away from last night's game. Eight days without a game is too long, and they figured to struggle in the first period. Thereafter, however, there was no excuse for failing to match the effort of a very talented Vancouver club.
Brian Boucher single-handedly kept the team in the game through the first period, holding the deficit to a manageable, 1-0. Sean O'Donnell tried to give his team an emotional jump start heading to the dressing room by dropping the gloves in the final seconds of the opening period. But it was all in vain.
Vancouver scored quickly in the second period, and the Flyers never elevated their level of play to any appreciable degree. Philly deserved to get blown out. The Canucks were able to freewheel in the offensive zone, dominated the faceoff circle, controlled the boards and were the more aggressive team physically. In short, it was total domination by the Canucks. To top it all off, Kimmo Timonen got banged up in last night's game.
Meanwhile, Jody Shelley (dressing for a game for the first time since his two-game suspension) couldn't avoid doing something stupid. He drew a match penalty for suckering Andrew Alberts and now faces another disciplinary hearing with the league office. I'll resist the temptation to say that something positive for the Flyers may come from the game after all. But Shelley has largely been a waste of a roster space this season, and his absence from the lineup makes zero difference.
Let's see how the Flyers respond tomorrow night in Los Angeles. Jonathan Quick has registered shutouts in two of his last three starts, and LA is another club that's capable of administering a butt-kicking to Philadelphia if the Flyers once again fail to compete. The Flyers road trip is off to a terrible start but it needn't continue that way if the team plays the way it has shown it is capable of playing when it comes ready to work.
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at the Flyers' eight-day break, miserable return and upcoming challenges on the road trip.
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Today's Across the Pond at NHL.com will look at the way Team Finland has compensated for the absence of Mikael Granlund (unable to play due to an October concussion) at the WJC.
Also today, Versus.com will run my article on the top six already-drafted NHL prospects (one goalie, two defensemen and three forwards) currently playing in Europe.
I will post links here, on Twitter and on Facebook when the articles are available online.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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