What could have been a great October has turned into smashing pumpkins.
The Flyers were 4-2-1 on Tuesday and thinking they could go 6-2-2.
At the same time, they were staring down the barrel of playing two teams beneath them in the overall Eastern Conference standings — Buffalo and New Jersey.
Everyone knows how this club plays down to the opposition.
Two games later, they are 4-3-2 and finish out the month Friday night in Buffalo, where the Sabres could make it a home-and-home sweep.
Last October, they went 4-4-2 under Craig Berube, so they can still get one win better here.
“I don’t think we really put too much focus into last year,” Luke Schenn said. “It’s a fresh start, fresh season. But there’s no question we’ve got to know how to win as a group here and learn how to do that and win on a consistent basis.”
The Flyers have two overtime losses and a shootout loss. And they’re about to start a nine-day, five-game road swing through Western Canada after they escape Buffalo.
“There’s been some inconsistencies which is why you win one, lose one, win two, lose two,” goalie Steve Mason said. “We have to shore up some things to become a consistently good hockey club. It’s frustrating. You see glimpses of how good the team can be.”
Just like last season, which is the scary part. It’s a repeat in so many ways.
“You play a team like Chicago or had a good comeback win against Boston or even a decent game in Tampa and things like that,” Schenn said. “Then there are some other ones where it just doesn’t add up.
“So inconsistent is probably a good word right now and if you’re inconsistent in this league then it’s hard to make up any ground, because teams are too good and there are a lot of good consistent teams out there that know how to win, so we have to find our stride here hopefully in this road trip.”
D-pairs
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol mixed up all three of his defensive pairs for this game. Didn’t produce a win or even slow the Devils down.
“We’re going to look at a couple different things,” he explained earlier. “We’re going to try to keep evolving. Push. What’s the right timing to do that? There’s no script for it. We’re going to keep looking for ways to have our overall group back there evolve. We need everybody. Every single night. We need to do it by committee.”
Injured reserve
The Flyers placed Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (right knee/ankle) on IR on Thursday and backdated it to Tuesday when he injured himself behind the net against Buffalo. They need to call up an extra forward for their upcoming road trip, which begins Friday in Buffalo.
College hockey
If you want to see some top collegiate hockey, it’s in the area this weekend, while the Flyers are on the road. Princeton, Yale, UMass and Maine will compete at the Capital City Classic on Friday and Saturday at Sun National Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Princeton and Yale open their seasons while UMass is trying to improve on a 4-0-1 start. Maine is looking to build off last season’s run to the Hockey East quarterfinals.