Flyers stand their ground but fall short in loss to Tampa Bay

Never count the Flyers out.

Once again, Philadelphia chipped away and chipped away. Down three goals early in the second period, the Flyers cut the lead to just one twice, but could not complete the comeback and fell 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It marks the first time the Flyers have lost three straight in regulation since Oct. 28-Nov. 1.

The Lightning took a 1-0 lead just 106 seconds into the game when Brayden Point redirected a Maxwell Crozier pass as he stood alone behind the defense and goalie Sam Ersson. The Flyers goalie was making his second straight start after the team announced earlier in the day that Carter Hart would be taking an indefinite leave of absence.

» READ MORE: Flyers goalie Carter Hart to take indefinite leave of absence

Two seconds after a tripping penalty to Rasmus Ristolainen expired, Nikita Kucherov let a one-timer rip from the right face-off circle. Kucherov added a power-play goal in the second period after he took a pass from Point off a skate and scored.

But then the Flyers finally started to break through. Atkinson, who probably had the best Flyers chance in the first period as the trailer, got on the board with a nifty deflection from a pass by Joel Farabee. The veteran forward now has 10 points (five goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak.

Then came the goal everyone’s been waiting for. Jamie Drysdale, who has two assists thus far in his Flyers tenure, made it a one-goal game, and scored his first as a Flyer. . Following sustained pressure on the power play, Morgan Frost fed Drysdale at the point and the defenseman used his quick feet to get set and fire off a wrist shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the score at 3-2.

» READ MORE: Q&A: Former Flyers captain Mike Richards talks alumni game, trade, and ‘The Shift’

Michael Eyssimont made it 4-2 just over three minutes later on a power play. He took a short pass from Kucherov in the slot for the goal. The Flyers allowed two power-play goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 10 against the Anaheim Ducks.

Owen Tippett may be out for a bit after being put on injured reserve early Tuesday, but that didn’t stop the Flyers from scoring a highlight-reel goal. Off the rush, Cam York had his initial shot from the high slot blocked by Nick Perbix but the puck popped up and York batted it out of the air and past Vasilevskiy.

The Flyers tried to tie things up but Brandon Hagel and Kucherov added empty-netters. Kucherov finished with a hat trick.

Farabee skated in his 300th NHL game and collected his 40th point of the season to establish a new career high. He has 10 points (five goals, five assists) during a seven-game point streak. ... Marc Staal and Nic Deslauriers were healthy scratches again as the Flyers went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. ... Frost had two assists and now has eight in his past six games. ... Olle Lycksell, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Monday, played 10 minutes, and 59 seconds, was minus-1 and had two shots on goal. ... Cal Petersen was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Tuesday and served as Ersson’s backup. ... Kucherov has 31 goals and joins Auston Matthews, Sam Reinhart, and David Pastrnak as the only players with 30-or-more this season.

The Flyers head to Hockeytown to take on the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP).