COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Flyers have sprung leaks.
The Blue Jackets beat the Flyers 5-2 in Nationwide Arena on Thursday night (see Instant Replay). It was the Jackets’ eighth consecutive victory. It was the Flyers’ second loss in a span of 24 hours.
Once again, the Flyers were exposed. They are not playing the type of team defense they featured when they were winning games in bunches not too long ago.
“We’re just not defending very well,” coach Craig Berube said. “We’re not very good in our own end. Breaking the puck out, turning the puck over, penalties. I don’t think it’s a work-ethic thing. I think it’s just execution, for the most part.
“It starts in our end, breaking the puck out. I believe we’re not doing a very good job of it and we end up spending too much time in our end.”
The Flyers were outscored 4-0 over the last 28:36 -- essentially, the second half of the game -- in Columbus.
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Derek MacKenzie, a fourth-line center for the Blue Jackets, was set up in front by somebody named Corey Tropp. The goal came at the end of a veritable fire drill in the Flyers’ end. That made it 2-2.
Matt Calvert scored a power-play goal when he used his skate to redirect a lobbed wrist shot by James Wisniewski. Yes, the goal came with the man advantage. It should also be noted that it came at the end of a two-minute span during which the Jackets totally hemmed in, and toyed with, the Flyers’ penalty killers. That made it 3-2.
Brandon Dubinsky scored on a relatively uncontested wrist shot from the right hash marks. It was the product of some stout work at the blue line by Calvert and Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin. The Flyers should have cleared the zone there, but they could not negotiate the last five feet along the wall. Wayne Simmonds and Braydon Coburn got outworked, and Coburn got caught out of position. Dubinsky’s goal made it 4-2.
Nathan Horton walked right around Andrej Meszaros and finished, wickedly, with a wrist shot from the right dot to the top left corner. That made it 5-2. Game over.
“We’ve got to do a better job defensively, and follow the system -- everyone on the team,” center Claude Giroux said. “And when we do that, we’ll be winning again.”
The Flyers were 10-2-1 from Dec. 12 through Jan. 8. During that stretch, they allowed 30 or more shots four times.
The Flyers are 2-4-2 in their past eight. During this stretch, they have allowed 30 or more shots four times. They allowed 37 shots to the Nashville Predators, one of the five-most anemic offensive teams in the NHL. They allowed 43 shots to the Islanders.
They allowed 39 shots to the Blue Jackets, Jake Voracek’s former team, on Thursday.
“We gave up so much,” Voracek said. “Forty on net -- it’s crazy. … We’re playing bad defense and that’s where it all starts. We’re giving up the puck in the neutral zone and they’re just coming at us, coming at us. We’re making mental mistakes. One guy is not in the right position and everything opens up. We’re got to be more accountable.”
Next up: Home games against the Bruins and Red Wings, then a wicked swing through California.
“We’ve got to turn it up,” Voracek said. “The schedule is pretty tough, and it’s pretty tight in the standings. We’d better be ready for Boston.”