Well, even after a late second push, the Flyers fall to the Calgary Flames 5-2, losing 7 of their last 8 games.

1st period

Both of the Flames goals in this period came off the rush and after a Flyers turnover.

Shots were tied 9-9 in the period but I personally thought the Flames owned play until the last few minutes.

Tanner Laczynski scored his 1st goal in the NHL, and boy was it a timely one.

Kieffer Bellows is a player for the Flyers that stood out in the 1st, especially considering he’s getting limited minutes on the 4th line.

Bellows finished the period with 2 shots and drew a penalty after almost completing a dangle around a Flames defender.

2nd period

This genuinely might’ve been one of the most boring hockey games I’ve ever watched. The Flames are so much better than the Flyers in every way but shots (6-6 that period) didn’t really tell that story in the 2nd

The Flames don’t wow you with high offensive talent anymore with Johnny Gaudreau with Columbus and Tkachuk with the Panthers now.

Instead, they play an extremely well-structured defensive-style game with a addition like MacKenzie Weegar.

They get out of their zone extremely efficiently, even if it takes everyone on the ice to touch the puck once.

If you were to try and pull any positives out of that 2nd period, from a Flyers perspective, I thought Tanner Laczynski looked good after scoring his goal in the 1st.

He had 2 shots on goal and had a nice blocked shot towards the end of the 2nd when the Flames were pressing a little.

The Flames ultimately ended up adding a goal in the 2nd, thanks to Andersson.

3rd period

Joel Farabee managed to get the Flyers within one, scoring his 4th goal of the season after a brutal turnover by a Calgary Flame.

All in all, although this is a team that is definitely more watchable than last year, the talent-gap (with entire team injured) is so apparent it’s tough to get mad as these losses.

Just grab a Top 5 pick and everyone in Philly will feel better.

Mandatory credit : Johnny Ulecka