For Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol, Thursday night's game came down to two things.
Being outworked in the first period and a couple of bad bounces in the second.
"I didn't think we matched their pace in the first period and for a team that hasn't had a whole lot of success on the road, they got out of that first period feeling good," he said after the Flyers' 4-0 loss to the Oilers at the Wells Fargo Center (see Instant Replay).
"Second thing to me that stands out is the second period. We had a lot of opportunities. We couldn't buy a break around the net and they capitalized on the opportunities they had.
"That's the difference in the game. At least those are two things that stand out to me."
The Flyers were lifeless for most of the first period, as they were outshot, 12-2, in the first 15:47 before showing a little bit of fight in the final two minutes on a power play. They were able to swing the momentum into their corner into the middle stanza.
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But there was one constant Thursday night and his name was Cam Talbot. The Edmonton netminder pitched his second shutout of the season with a 35-save effort.
Talbot stifled the Flyers for his third shutout of the team in the past two seasons. He shut the Flyers out twice last season as a member of the New York Rangers.
Coming into Thursday, the orange and black averaged 3.7 goals in their previous seven games and 3.15 goals since Jan. 1, up from 2.19 in their first 36 games.
Yet they couldn't solve Talbot. Was that on the Flyers or was it just the goalie's night?
"I don't think we blame anyone," Shayne Gostisbehere said of being shut out. "(Talbot) played a great game, made some big saves. I just don't think we were at our best."
In the second period, the Flyers peppered Talbot with 16 shots. The goalie was aided with a few posts, two of which came on power plays, but held off the Flyers' attack. The Flyers were 0 for 3 on the power play in the middle stanza and 0 for 7 on the night.
"I think tonight the second period, I thought we deserved better," defenseman Mark Streit said. "I thought we had a lot of offensive-zone time and we played pretty good hockey and then on the other hand, they scored two goals and we got none. It's frustrating."
Just when the Flyers began getting qualities chances on Talbot in the second period, Oilers winger Taylor Hall pushed Edmonton ahead 2-0 at 14:22 with his 21st of the season.
Hall created a neutral-zone turnover and out-skated Gostisbehere to beat Michal Neuvirth, who made his fifth straight start, with a backhand-forehand deke on a breakaway. About two minutes later, Edmonton went up 3-0 when Patrick Maroon registered his fifth of the year.
"The puck was between me and Mac (Andrew MacDonald) and we probably should have talked," Gostisbehere said of Hall's goal. "I tried to take it, I mishandled it and gave it right to him."
With the loss and the Pittsburgh Penguins' 4-1 victory over the Rangers, the Flyers are now five points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
"We didn't show up from the start of the game," winger Wayne Simmonds said. "I don't think we played horrible, but it wasn't our best game. We got to put a better effort forth.
"We have 19 games left. Pittsburgh won. I saw that scoreboard watching a little bit after the game, so that hurts for us. Can't really dwell on it."
The Flyers called the loss frustrating and were downtrodden afterward. Both Streit and Simmonds said it's important for the team to focus on Columbus on Saturday night, but Hakstol admitted that it's not easy at this point of the season to move on.
"We're not going to walk out of the locker room and shrug it off," Hakstol said. "Competitive nature doesn't allow for that, but tomorrow morning, it's got be in the back of our minds and put away. We have to move on to the next game."