Flyers lose 3 straight in regulation for first time since Oct. 28-Nov. 1 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
For some reason, the Flyers haven’t been able to gain much steam at home.
They lost to the Lightning, 6-3, Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Cam Atkinson, Jamie Drysdale and Cam York scored goals for the Flyers (25-17-6), who dropped to 11-11-2 at home.
They’re 14-6-4 on the road.
John Tortorella’s club went 1-3-0 on its four-game homestand, losing the final three games by a combined score of 18-10. The three-game skid comes after the Flyers won five straight to match their season-best winning streak.
They’ve lost three straight in regulation for the first time since Oct. 28-Nov. 1.
Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov finished off the Flyers with empty-net goals. Kucherov’s capped off a hat trick.
Tuesday night marked the first of three regular-season matchups between the Flyers and Lightning (25-18-5).
The Flyers still have 11 games remaining against the Bruins, Panthers, Maple Leafs and Lightning, the top four teams in the Atlantic Division.
• Three hours before the game, the Flyers announced that Carter Hart would be out indefinitely for personal reasons.
Samuel Ersson, making his second straight start, converted 15 saves on 19 shots.
Tampa Bay surged to a 3-0 lead 22 and a half minutes into the game.
Kucherov and Brayden Point, the Lightning’s big boys, did damage. They combined for three consecutive goals, with Point striking first just 1:46 minutes after puck drop.
Kucherov’s first goal came two seconds after Tampa Bay’s power play expired. He then added a power play marker early in the second period to give the Lightning the commanding three-goal lead.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion, stopped 29 of the Flyers’ 32 shots.
• Only 48 games into the season, Joel Farabee has set a new career high in points with 40 (17 goals, 23 assists).
He assisted Atkinson’s second-period goal, which ignited a strong push from the Flyers to make it a game.
“I actually had a chat last year with [senior advisor] Dean Lombardi, I put a number on the points I wanted to get last year and obviously didn’t get to it,” Farabee said Tuesday at morning skate. “And I think it just caused a lot of pressure on myself, honestly. This year, I really just wanted to come in and just be a guy that can be an all-situation guy, be out there whenever I can.
“I’m never really worried about the points too much, obviously it’s nice getting them, but for me, I didn’t really put a goal on it. I just wanted to be a guy that when Torts looked down the bench, a guy that can be trusted out there.”
Farabee’s maturation has been huge for the future of the Flyers’ rebuild.
With the goal and an assist, Atkinson pushed his point streak to six games (five goals, five assists).
Drysdale followed up Atkinson’s goal with a power play marker, trimming the Flyers’ deficit to 3-2. It was Drysdale’s first goal as a Flyer and Atkinson made sure to scoop it out of the net for him.
Tampa Bay countered, though, with another power play goal as Atkinson was whistled for hooking.
York’s goal only 42 seconds into the third period pulled the Flyers within 4-3, but the Lightning closed the door.
• Frost had two more assists, giving him eight in the last six games,.
• With Bobby Brink being sent to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley (more on that here), Olle Lycksell was called back up to the Flyers.
“I’m probably going to put him in more offensive positions,” Tortorella said Tuesday at morning skate. “I want to see if he can bring us some offense.”
The 24-year-old went scoreless in 11:10 minutes.
• Owen Tippett, day to day with a lower-body issue, was placed on injured reserve. The Flyers can backdate the stint to Sunday. The club has two more games left before going nine days (Jan. 28 to Feb. 5) without a game. The NHL All-Star break is Feb. 1-3.
• The Flyers are off Wednesday before heading to Detroit for a matchup Thursday against the Red Wings (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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