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Flyers lose four straight to start season for first time since 2014-15
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- Flyers lose four straight to start season for first time since 2014-15
Flyers lose four straight to start season for first time since 2014-15 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers were outshot by a healthy margin again as they lost to the Lightning, 4-1, Monday night at Benchmark International Arena.
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Tampa Bay made it 3-1 with three minutes left in the game and added an empty-net goal to finish things off.
Tyson Foerster provided the Flyers' lone goal. The club's power play went 0 for 3 and is 0 for 11 on the season.
The Flyers fell to 0-2-2. They've dropped four straight to start the season for the first time since 2014-15, when they also went 0-2-2.
The Flyers have had all kinds of trouble with the Lightning in their last five meetings. They've gone 0-5-0 and have been outscored 21-4. They face Tampa Bay two more times this season.
• A positive for the Flyers was Dan Vladar.
The 29-year-old looked much more like himself, converting 32 saves on 35 shots. His previous outing was the 7-0 drubbing to the Penguins in the season opener.
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The Flyers did not help Vladar on the three goals he allowed to the Lightning.
On Ilya Mikheyev's 3-1 marker, David Jiricek had a bad turnover to Pontus Holmberg, who then deked the Flyers' defenseman.
The Flyers gave up a 3-on-1 rush to Tampa Bay just 17 seconds into the second period. Cam York got stuck in the neutral zone. Holmberg, who may have interfered with York, buried the goal to put the Flyers down 2-0.
The Lightning opened the scoring with 3:55 minutes left in the first period when Brayden Point converted on an excellent deflection. Vladar had little to no chance to make the save.
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Andrei Vasilevskiy, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner, stopped 14 of the Flyers' 15 shots.
• Has complacency seeped in with the Flyers? Or is it possible they're rusty and sluggish from last season? Because this offseason was new territory for them.
The Flyers had their summer break cut down by a month because of the playoff run and the addition of two games this season. You have to wonder if the Flyers are feeling that right now. Or if they're just not used to it.
They have not looked at all like the team that was stingy and connected down the stretch last season. They've been outshot a staggering 158-77. That's a minus-81 shot differential.
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"It's still early in the year, small sample, but it's still alarming a little bit I would say," Sean Couturier said Sunday after practice . "I think structure-wise, we're not as sharp, we don't seem to be on the same page. At least the effort is better and we're competing more, but we've just got to smarten up, work harder, but smart, as well. And I think we'll eventually get back to the playing style we want to play."
• Some of the guys the Flyers were ready to rely on offensively had not been there through three games.
But Foerster and Porter Martone found a spark in Game 4. Foerster's goal came on a shot with traffic around the net. Martone was battling Charle-Edouard D'Astous in front as the puck went off the Tampa Bay defenseman.
Martone was super engaged. He drew two penalties and stirred the pot. Good signs.
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"I expect a lot more from myself to contribute to this team and help this team win games," Martone said Saturday morning after the first two games .
Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak, two significant additions last season , have combined for no goals, two assists and seven shots through four games this season.
• Denver Barkey made his season debut after missing the first three games because of a lower-body injury .
At practice Sunday, the 21-year-old forward looked poised for a return this week. He took plenty of contact to test things out.
To make room for Barkey on the roster, the Flyers placed Nikita Grebenkin (upper body) on injured reserve. Barkey entered the lineup for Alex Bump, who was a healthy scratch.
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Barkey went scoreless in 13:06 minutes.
Rasmus Ristolainen did not play after taking a shot to his left hand in the Flyers' 3-2 overtime loss Saturday night to the Hurricanes. The good news is that he joined the Flyers for the three-game road trip, so the injury appears to be more short term than long term.
• The Flyers are back in action Thursday when they visit the Senators (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
