The easy thing to do would be overreacting.
The Flyers' home opener was ugly. The team was thoroughly outplayed the second after Gritty came floating down from the rafters and the player intros concluded.
Dave Hakstol's team fell flat on its face for an 8-2 laugher of a loss Tuesday at the hands of the Sharks. Fans booed and by the third period, when the night went completely off the rails, the Wells Fargo Center had the look of a preseason game with the number of empty seats.
It was downright bad.
Perspective, though, is good.
Claude Giroux has been around long enough to understand that quite quickly, even moments following the final buzzer on these types of defeats in which inflammatory emotion is natural.
"They played well, we didn't. They got a win, we got the loss," Giroux said. "We move on.
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"Games like that, they're frustrating. But it's one game, everybody needs to relax."
Deep breath. Inhale, exhale.
This was Game 3 of 82. It's a shame for the fan base when these outcomes occur. When it happens in the home opener, with all the anticipation and festivities, it becomes magnified.
But this had the feeling of a perfect storm. For one, the Sharks are good. They have guys like Joe Pavelski, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Logan Couture. People are picking them to go to the Stanley Cup Final. To make matters worse, the Sharks had wounds still fresh from the night before, a 4-0 loss to the Islanders in New York.
They looked like actual Sharks in the way they relentlessly swarmed the Flyers.
"We didn't want the game in Brooklyn to affect our game today," Sharks forward Kevin Labanc said. "We came in tonight really positive and focused, and ready to take this game over."
The Flyers routed the Capitals by the identical score in last season's home opener. Washington was embarrassed, started 4-5-1 and then won the Stanley Cup. The Penguins, coming off back-to-back championships, lost to the Blackhawks, 10-1, in their second game of 2017-18. The Bruins, with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask, were blasted by the Capitals, 7-0, in the season opener. They won the very next night, 4-0.
"The good thing about this sport is we probably have a game soon," Wayne Simmonds said.
Indeed, tonight in Ottawa against the Senators.
The Flyers go in having allowed the NHL's second-most goals with 15 through three games. They've been outscored 13-4 since their big 5-2 win in the season opener over the Golden Knights. Their defense has been all over the place, including Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere — the two guys we thought would be excluded from such a statement. Provorov and Nolan Patrick are without a point.
All of the above is worth watching moving forward this month.
The final score of Tuesday's home opener should sting and eventually be forgotten.
After all, it really is just one game — as long as it doesn't keep happening.