The Flyers face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon, a team in need of points to maintain their place as the final team in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
The Penguins scored two goals in the first period and two more in the second and the rout was on from there, as the Flyers were handed their ninth straight loss in a 4-1 defeat at Wells Fargo Center.
That brings us to this weekend, where the Flyers are staring another double-digit losing streak right in the face. The Pittsburgh Penguins are in town for the annual Black Friday game.
The end result was a 6-2 defeat, certainly no surprise given the circumstances. But it also goes down as another embarrassing showing in front of the home crowd. It’s another game where the Flyers fell behind early and never recovered. And it left the interim head coach with some harsh words regarding compete level in his postgame remarks.
With the Flyers shorthanded, it was nothing short of a blood bath. The Penguins scored three goals in the first and never looked back, handing the Flyers a 6-2 loss at Wells Fargo Center.
While the Flyers deal with a depleted lineup from COVID and injuries, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town on Thursday night, fresh off their ninth straight win.
If not for excellent goaltending again, the Flyers would not have been in position to win this game. They would certainly have not gained a point in the standings, which could certainly prove valuable later. Despite that, it is hardly a moral victory for the Flyers. Another sloppy game is showing a troubling trend as a difficult month is just getting started.
The Penguins are dealing with various health issues, some injury-related and some COVID-related. Most notably, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will be out for Thursday's game after testing positive for COVID on Wednesday. Crosby had missed the first seven games of the Penguins' season recovering from offseason wrist surgery and just returned for his first game of the season on Saturday. Nonetheless, Pittsburgh is off to a 3-3-2 start without having Crosby or Evgeni Malkin in the lineup, so this is still no easy task for the Flyers.