The Flyers lost to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night 3-1 and then beat the Tampa Bay Lightning the next night 4-3.

A couple things about the games first being that Peter Forsberg played. He was expected to be out till the weekend but did play both games about 20 minutes in each.

The Flyers franchise losing streak record ended at 10 games with the win over the Lightning. I am glad it is over.

Against the Panthers Kyle Calder scored the only Flyers goal on the Power Play. The Flyers did kill all 6 Panther power plays if one is looking for some positives out the poor performance. Antero Niittymaki stopped 22 of 24 shots thru 2 periods and sat out the third with Robert Esche in net. Niitty left with a hip strain. Esche stopped 8 of 9 shots.

Niitty is set to get his next cortisone shot today.

Ed Belfour for the Panthers stopped 23 of 24 Flyers shots as the Flyers were out shot again.

One fighting penalty called in the game with Ben Eager vs. Steve Montador. It wasn’t even a fight. Eager never dropped his gloves and Montador maybe tried to throw 1 punch and less then 10 seconds of wrestling. Eager gets a 5 minute major and Montador gets 2 for instigating, 5 for fighting and a 10 minute misconduct all crap calls. I just love this new NHL.

Forsberg, Knuble, Gagne, Pitkanen and Zhitnik were minus 2 for the game.

Rostislav Olesz, Martin Gelinas, and Mike Van Ryn were the three stars.

The next night against Tampa Bay the Flyers showed up and played some better hockey, more forchecking, and more energy.

Alexi Zhitnik scored his first goal as a Flyer, Sami Kapenen also scored both on the Power Play. Simon Gagne added 2 goals.

The Flyers were again out shot 45 to 26. Robert Esche got his first start in goal since coming back from injury stopping 42 of 45 shots. Giving up 3 goals has been typical this year for the Flyers, what hasn’t been is actually scoring 4 or more goals. Looking at the stats and comparing them to last year the lack of scoring is the stat that stands out most.

Gagne, Forsberg and Knuble this game was +2. Alexandre Picard led the team at +3.

Gagne, Forsberg and Esche were the three stars for the game.

The Flyers are in Florida to play the Panthers tonight after the holiday break. The Panthers have won the only meeting of the season between the 2 teams 3-2 in Florida on October 20. The last game the Flyers played before Hitchcock and Clarke were fired.

The Flyers are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators in Philadelphia last Saturday and are on a franchise record 9 game losing streak. The Panthers are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Carolina last night.

Robert Esche is back in the lineup which sends Martin Houle back to the Phantoms. Antero Niittymaki will get the start in net.

Peter Forsberg is still out with a concussion and wont be back until atleast the weekend. Other injuries for the Flyers include Denis Gauthier – shoulder, Mike Rathje – back, Mike Richards and Geoff Sanderson each with sports hernias.

The Flyers need to come out and play strong and have the strong play carry over to the second and third periods. The second period all year as been a disaster for the Flyers. The Flyers also need to get the power play working, currently ranked 27th in the league.

In the month of October the Flyers won 3 out of 11 games, in November 5 out of 15 games. In the month of December the Flyers have played 9 games and have won 0, zero, nada, zilch.

The Flyers are setting records, the bad kind. The current nine game losing streak is the longest ever for the Flyers, ever. The previous was 6 games which they tied earlier in the year. The longest NHL losing streak is held by the Capitals and Sharks at 17.

The current six game home losing streak is also the longest ever for the Flyers. They have won 3 total home games. The Flyers record for fewest wins at home is 11. With 47 games left in the season the Flyers are 3 losses away from the total amount of losses last season at 26.

Before the season the Washington Capitals held the longest road losing streak for a particular city, Philadelphia. The Caps had last won in Philadelphia in 1998. The Caps won both trips to Philly, each time with a backup goaltender. This means that the Flyers now hold this record, with not winning in 15 trips to Detroit.

The 1969-70 season the Flyers won 17 games. If the Flyers keep their current pace they won’t be much better.

The Flyers have not won a game with Peter Forsberg out of the lineup and with the concussion it is really uncertain when he will be back.

The second half of November things looked like they were turning around, if the Flyers could string some wins together they would close in on being in the playoff hunt again. But instead of the hope of making the playoffs, now it is just a hope for a win.

This time of year people are usually thankful for many things. For me I am thankful the Flyers don’t play for three days since that’s 3 days with no losses. 3 days I don’t have to watch the Flyers find yet another way to beat themselves.

I am a Flyer fan; I don’t enjoy criticizing the team. But when the owner earlier in the season and the coach lately come out and criticize the team for not competing and the team does not respond something is seriously wrong.

Is this the worse Flyers team ever? Looking at the team on paper it should not be. But if you throw out the first couple years the team was in the league with expansion the way they are currently playing I think we are looking at the worse Flyers team ever.

The Flyers dropped their 6th straight last night losing to the Capitals 4-1.
The 6th straight loss ties the franchise record for consecutive losses also tied earlier this year.

Mike Knuble scored the only Flyers goal early in the first, the Caps scored the next 4.

Peter Forsberg who looked good with his new skates in the first period sat out the rest with a possible concussion. He will be evaluated today.

Coach John Stevens

“The big thing with guys like Ovechkin and Crosby is you have to match their passion and work ethic. You have to come ready to work or they’re going to beat you.”

That has been a big problem this year with the Flyers the passion and work ethic needed to win is just not there. There is no desperation in their play that is needed to make the playoffs this year. If the play doesn’t pick up by the start of January, then there is no chance for any play after April 8. Heck some are saying that now.

Alexei Zhitnik who was able to make it in from New York on time, played almost 22 minutes was minus -2 and picked up 2 minor penalties.

Zhitnik was paired with Hatcher, Pitkanen with Timonen, Jones with Picard.

Right Wing Darren Reid made his Flyers debut called up from the Phantoms. Matt Ellison was sent back before the game after playing several games with the Flyers. Scott Munroe was called up to backup Niitty in goal. Reid replaced Kapanen who was out with injury.

Rathje, Carter, Richards, Sanderson, Esche and Gauthier were the other Flyers out with injuries.

Something ‘new’ that has been going around the hockey broadcasts lately is having the play-by-play at ice level between the benches. Comcast Sportsnet Balitmore/Washington did this last night. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin called the game from ice level standing between the two benches. I can see how having someone down there that can hear and report some of the communication going on at the benches can be entertaining for the TV watching audience, but besides that it is irritating as hell. I don’t care if Beninati almost got hit by a stick or if Laughlin got snowed. Telling the TV viewing audience what is happening to THEM during play doesn’t add anything to the watching experience. The play-by-play guy still needs a monitor to follow play, which is when he is actually doing his job. This isn’t rocket science, when the puck is in play the play-by-play guy calls the game which means call what is happening on the ice. When there is a play stoppage the color guy can add his color. Is this so hard?

NHL: Philadelphia Flyers Greatest Games Set

The Flyers have released a 10 DVD box set containing the 10 greatest games as voted by the fans.

The box set is a good Christmas gift for the Flyer fan. There has not been a lot of good Flyer hockey to watch recently, this could be some good filler. Season Ticket Holders apparently get the box set for free, sweet for them. The box set is on sale at the Wachovia Center Fan Gear store or at Skate Zone Gear Zones for $49.98. Amazon.com has it cheaper with the link above.

Although if you do buy it at the Wachovia Center Fan Gear store from 6-7pm on December 12 you can get it autographed by Keith Primeau, Bernie parent and Bob Kelly.

Based on fans votes, the 10 greatest games included on the DVD are as follows:

1. May 19, 1974 – Flyers defeat Boston, 1-0, to win Stanley Cup
2. May 4, 2000 – Keith Primeau scores a goal in the 5th overtime period at Pittsburgh
3. May 27, 1975 – Flyers defeat Buffalo, 2-0, to win second Stanley Cup
4. January 11, 1976 – Flyers defeat Soviet Red Army Team, 4-1
5. May 20, 2004 – Keith Primeau and Simon Gagne each score a goal as the Flyers defeat Tampa Bay in Game Six
6. May 4, 2004 – Jeremy Roenick scores a goal in overtime at Toronto to win game, 3-2, and series 4-2
7. December 22, 1979 – Flyers win at Boston to set NHL record for longest undefeated streak (29 games)
8. May 28, 1987 – J.J. Daigneault scores the game-winning goal vs. Edmonton in Game Six of Stanley Cup Finals
9. May 9, 1974 – Bobby Clarke scores in overtime at Boston
10. April 13, 1985 – Tim Kerr scores four goals in second period of playoff game at NY Rangers

Petr Nedved has been put back on waivers and if he clears I expect to head back down to the Phantoms. While his play did improve for the few games he was back up, his play has since fallen. In 21 games Nedved has 1 goal 6 assists and is minus -20. He was at minus-7 when sent down in October. With all the injuries the Flyers are suffering and he still was sent down, yeah I suspect he won’t be back. He is a free agent after this season.

Defenseman Lars Jonsson was recalled from the Phantoms. Jonsson has played 6 games for the Flyers with 2 assists and is minus -2.

Niko Dimitrakos was placed on re-entry waivers today. Hope he clears and makes it up to the Flyers. Carter-Umberger-Dimitrakos was a solid line late last season. I think the dude is decent enough for another shot.

I haven’t seen anything officially but Tim Panaccio is reporting that Tony Voce and Matt Ellison is up with the Flyers today.