Stick a fork in the Flyers, because they’re absolutely cooked. They lost 9-3 in Montreal on Tuesday night and are now four points back in the Metro and two points behind the Capitals for the final Wild Card spot. They’ve lost eight in a row and have to play the Rangers in Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

I’m sure a lot of people were curious to hear what John Tortorella would have to say after the Quebecois annihilation, but he did five minutes of pragmatic and honest media after the game.

On whether the level of effort was there:

“I’m not questioning their effort. I just think we’ve lost ourselves in managing games. I think some guys may feel it a little bit because they may wanna try to get us out of this. But I don’t question the care. I don’t question the effort. It’s been a strong group all year long. I’m frustrated for them, because this was rock bottom for us. Hate to see us at this time of the year playing this way after all of the good minutes we’ve put in throughout the year.” 

He’s not wrong. They overachieved this season and it’s tough to see them fall apart at the most inopportune time. The only problem with Torts’ messaging here is that it’s inconsistent. Just last week he was ripping the team for playing a “soft” and “embarrassing” second period against the Isles, and more or less intimated that some guys on the roster just don’t have what it takes to play in these types of cut-throat, high-leverage games. When a coach like Torts has to constantly press motivational buttons, that comes at the risk of sending mixed messages. One week, these guys are humongous pussies, then the next week you’re frustrated for them because of all the quality minutes they’ve put into this season. Or, as another example, you’re benching your captain one week, then delivering a thoughtful, 15-minute press conference the next week.

Fans and media love to say that a player or a team “quit” on their coach, but that’s such a nebulous concept. Short of Sean Couturier saying “yes we quit on Torts because he’s a douche bag,” we’re never going to be able to prove or disprove that kind of thought. That said, I find it incredibly hard to believe that this team busted their asses for Torts for many months, just to make it to the final 12-15 games… and then what? Just stop playing? With a postseason berth right in front of them? If that’s the case, then maybe they shouldn’t be wearing the jersey to begin with. But I don’t think it’s the case, because you can see the visible frustration on the faces of guys like Travis Konecny. If he quit on Torts, he’s doing a good job of selling it.

This is where my favorite philosophical principle comes into play. Occam’s Razor. It’s a problem-solving method that says you search for the explanation with the smallest set of elements, i.e., what’s the most obvious reason for why the Flyers are suddenly dog shit?

I just don’t think they’re that good. They outplayed their potential all season long with work rate and blue collar grindy-ness, but when the going got tough, and other teams with more offensive and power play talent started to buckle down, then the Flyers fell behind and regressed to the norm. They also lost their #1 goaltender to sexual assault charges, Sean Walker was traded, Nick Seeler hasn’t been the same since the injury, Coots is gassed, and guys like TK are struggling. Sam Ersson was never supposed to play this many games, Ivan Fedotov wasn’t supposed to be on this continent, and the Flyers were never supposed to be in the playoff hunt come February, March, or April.

That’s why I think you have to look at this Flyers season pragmatically and take it for what it is at face value. They overachieved in a rebuilding year and then fell back to Earth, hard.