Since the institution of the NHL shootout, beginning with the 2005-06 season, the Flyers have the worst winning percentage in the breakaway challenge of all 32 teams in the league.

The Flyers have been in 151 shootouts in the 18 seasons it’s existed and their record is 54-97 for a .358 winning percentage.

That’s so bad that the next worst team, the Florida Panthers, are 75-102, a .424 winning percentage. If that was their record in the standings and they were in the same division, the Flyers would be 13 games behind the Panthers.

Making matters worse, the Flyers have only scored 139 goals on 530 shootout shots attempted, a scoring percentage of 26.2%, 30th in the NHL, while allowing 197 goals on 527 shots for a scoring percentage against of 37.4%, which is the worst in the league.

I give you all this data because, although it’s been an 18-year head-scratching as to why the Flyers can never be even mediocre at the shootout, the team may have finally found their way past their shootout malaise.

Don’t even let games get to that point.

The Flyers have played in just one shootout this season. Unsurprisingly, it was a loss – in Montreal on Nov. 19th. But while they’ve had plenty of games slink past regulation into extra time, they’re just ending in the five-minute overtime and not getting to the shootout.

The problem is that the Flyers stink in OT this season too.

The last two games – Tuesday at home to Los Angeles and Thursday night in Minnesota, the Flyers lost both game in overtime, 4-3 to the Kings and 3-2 to the Wild.

The Flyers fell to 1-8 in games that have ended in overtime this season.

So, 50 games into the season, the Flyers have been in 10 games that have made it past regulation – which is 20% of the games they are playing, and yet have found a way to lose 9-of-10. The only win was in San Jose back on Dec. 29 on a goal by Tony DeAngelo.

It’s hard to fathom why this is the case. Why the Flyers, who have shown to be a mostly competitive team under John Tortorella despite a lack of top-end talent, suddenly falter in overtime.

Maybe it’s because when you play 3-on-3 hockey, the difference between top-end skill and average skill really shows up? In that vein, the Flyers are 0-6 in OT against teams that are currently in a playoff spot, and are 1-2 against non-playoff teams, so maybe there is something to that.

Either way, it does expose weaknesses with the Flyers roster that can be hidden a little in 5-on-5 play by good systems and good goaltending:

  • they don’t defend well in space
  • they don’t carry the puck well
  • they don’t possess the puck long enough
  • they aren’t great at getting the puck back once it’s controlled by the opposition

Here’s the goal by Kevin Fiala that ended the game against the Kings on Tuesday:

There was a close play at the other end and the Flyers almost scored right before this and it was a gamble worth taking with two guys at the net, but it results in a 2-on-1 the other way, with Travis Konecny back and, well, let’s just say he’s not known for his 2-on-1 defense.

But it’s an example of the opposition having a lot of time and space in which to operate, even if it was a chance borne out of hard work and a near miss on the other end. The problem is, there’s too much of this that happens to the Flyers, and while sometimes it’s not because of an error or bad play, when there are enough chances against you, some are going to bite you, even if there isn’t someone to point a finger at for a reason things went awry.

Here’s the goal by Mats Zuccarello that ended the game against the Wild on Thursday:

This is an example of bad defense. Plain and simple. Both Konecny and DeAngelo are poor on this play. And while some will argue you have to give it up to Zuccarello for the nifty moves – you do – he doesn’t finish if either TK or DeAngelo focus more on riding him off the play and not get bedazzled by the move or trying to flail at the puck with your stick.

It’s these little things that cost the Flyers points and make it so hard to overcome a points deficit to get into playoff contention.

There are now 32 games remaining in the season and just 12 before the trade deadline. The Flyers are eight points out of a wild card spot, and the team they are chasing, the Pittsburgh Penguins, have two games in hand.

And for those hoping for them to stink enough to have a shot in the NHL lottery, the Flyers currently would pick ninth in the draft based on standings and not assuming getting extremely lucky to jump up into the top three in the lottery.

There’s one more game before the All-Star break – Saturday night in Winnipeg, but the Flyers are scuffling a little right now. They have lost three straight, 4 of 5 and, 5 of 7 with their only wins coming against Anaheim and Detroit, two other non-playoff teams.

Their record against teams currently in a playoff position is 7-14-6. That’s 20 losses in 27 games. Conversely, they are 13-7-3 against non-playoff teams. Looking forward, half of their remaining games are against current playoff teams and a few of the non-playoff games are against teams more in the thick of the playoff race than they are (Calgary, Buffalo and the New York Islanders, for example).

As such, for the Flyers to truly make a longshot playoff push, they’re going to have to be much better against the good teams, continue to beat bad teams, and maybe at an even better rate, and for God’s sake, by any means necessary, avoid playing games for more than 60 minutes.

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