Brayden Schenn was angry. He had every right to be.
Schenn scored two goals and got the Flyers into overtime to help them earn a point they didn’t deserve against Buffalo. Yet the reality was, for more than 40 minutes, the effort was lacking in Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss at the Wells Fargo Center (see Instant Replay).
Why? Because the game was against the Sabres.
“Not a great start. We came out flat and can’t do that,” Schenn said. “Every team can beat anyone in this league. We got to be ready to play and we’ve been talking about that for a while, especially against [these] teams.
“It’s easy to get jacked up for the Rangers game or the Penguins game, but these are the games you have to have.”
Zemgus Girgenson's won the game in overtime on one of those instances when a team has a solid chance that doesn't work out, which leads directly to a great opportunity for the opponent.
Sam Gagner's brilliant move saw the puck leave his stick and Scott Laughton shoot on Sabres goalie Chad Johnson. He made the save, and in transition, Girgensons won it with a clean breakaway.
The Flyers lacked the work ethic that had shown in previous games, especially against quality opponents.
They weren’t moving their legs and skating with the kind of determination they showed days earlier to earn two points.
It’s the same story as last season. Play up to playoff teams and play down to the non-playoff clubs.
“It’s never fun playing from behind,” Schenn said. “I feel we ought to start the game as if we’re behind. We seem to play better when we have to put the foot on the gas pedal a bit.”
Buffalo got a bad goal on Steve Mason off an Evgeny Medvedev turnover early in the first period, then embarrassed the Flyers' struggling penalty kill with a tic-tac-toe goal late in the period to make it 2-0 before Chris VandeVelde gave them relief at period’s end.
Those two Sabres goals that period matched their total for first-period goals through their previous eight games!
The Flyers' compete level they showed against teams like Chicago and Tampa just wasn’t there against a team that had not won on the road until Tuesday.
“Unacceptable,” VandeVelde said. “It’s something we’ve got to work on. It’s easy to get up for the big games. A game like this, we have to come out with the same mentality and play hard and not stoop to anyone’s level.”
Strangely, coach Dave Hakstol saw the game different than his players. He let them off the hook, actually.
He thought they deserved the point because they forced the overtime.
“We had a good start, a good first few minutes, then we didn’t sustain that through the first period,” Hakstol said.
“The rest of the game was up and down ... we couldn’t sustain anything from one shift to the next on a consistent basis. But in saying that, we found a way to continue staying with it and push to get into overtime.”
It shouldn’t have ever gotten to that point.
Without Schenn’s late heroics, the Flyers lose in regulation. They just didn’t have the same work ethic here they’ve had in other games against quality teams. It’s why they went 0-7-5 down the stretch against every non-playoff club they faced last season.
It’s a mentality they need to break this season. This week, in fact, as they meet New Jersey on Thursday and face Buffalo again on Friday.
“Good teams do [play the same],” Jakub Voracek said. “We got to find a way to be prepared for it as if we are playing the Rangers or Chicago or Pittsburgh. It doesn’t matter. It’s NHL hockey. We got to find a way to get two points.”
Last season, their third-ranked power play gave them goals and bailed them out on many a night. Thus far this season, the Flyers' special teams have been poor.
Their power play was 0 for 2 – the third “0-for” in their last four games.
They had just one shot from their main power play quarterback – Mark Streit – in this game. That’s not enough.
“We’re getting chances and there has been some good saves on us,” Schenn said.
Yes, but they’re not getting the point shots that get power plays going.
“It’s not easy getting pucks through,” Schenn said. “It boils down to maybe getting a little quicker puck movement.”