Nikita Kucherov

In a 7-1 rout by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers losing streak reached eight games, with now three of those losses coming at the hands of the back-to-back champs. And the takeaways from this one are pretty simple. It can’t be much longer before more changes start coming. There isn’t much more to say about the play on the ice that hasn’t already been said during this streak. A season that was all about making the playoffs and getting back to winning has become the opposite in a hurry.

The Tampa Bay Lightning built the foundation of their championship team through the draft and had to experience a lot of failure before reaching the top. The Flyers may be in the early stages of following the same blueprint.

Both teams received power plays in overtime, but it was a call made at the end of regulation and another on Stars captain Jamie Benn in overtime that caused the most talk, leading to the game-winning goal from Kevin Shattenkirk that gave the Lightning a 5-4 win and a 3-1 series lead on Friday night.

With goals from Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat, the Lightning scored two goals in the first and three in the second to cruise to a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night, taking a 2-1 series lead in the process.

Three goals in the first period, including two on the power play, paced the Lightning to a 3-0 lead. The Stars again tried to find a rally, but fell just short, as the Lightning took Game 2, 3-2, to even the Stanley Cup Final at one game apiece on Monday night.

A preview of the Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars, including each team’s candidates for Conn Smythe, how they got to the Final and what they need to do to win the Cup.

The Dallas Stars clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Final on Monday and could be joined by one of the two teams left in the East on Tuesday. Also a look at a new coaching hire in the Metropolitan Division as a familiar face goes to Washington.

Consider this win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday everything. The Flyers have the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Who would have imagined that a season ago? Here are 5 takeaways from Flyers-Lightning.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored two goals, Joel Farabee added another and Carter Hart made 23 saves to secure a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and claim the top seed on Saturday night. 

The Flyers play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night in a battle for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The winner plays their first-round series against the 12-seed Montreal Canadiens. The loser gets the second seed and plays the winner of the series between Toronto and Columbus. Game time is 8 p.m.