Flyers fall outside playoff bubble with 6-2 loss to Blue Jackets, extend skid to seven games

COLUMBUS, Ohio ― Has anyone tried to reboot the Flyers? Maybe unplug them, wait 30 seconds, and plug them back in?

Scratch that last one, 30 seconds may be too long of a wait right now. In Game No. 78 Saturday night, the Flyers lost, 6-2, to the Columbus Blue Jackets — a team that entered the night 21 points below them in the standings.

With the loss, the Flyers are now officially outside the playoff bubble.

Actually, even before they laced up their skates at Nationwide Arena, they were out of it — jumped by their Keystone State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won earlier in the day.

So you’d think the Flyers would come out with some pep in their step to reclaim their spot.

You’d think wrong, and they have now lost seven straight. And to make matters worse, the Islanders also won Saturday, moving them up two points from the Flyers for third in the Metropolitan Division.

By the end of the first period, the Flyers were down 2-0. It could have been worse as the Blue Jackets had 30 shot attempts, including 13 shots on goal. Erik Gudbranson scored on a point shot past Sam Ersson, and with 66 seconds left in the frame, Damon Severson fired off a one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle.

In the opening frame, the Flyers had 19 shot attempts, nine of which came during a four-minute power play. One of their best chances of the night never made it on goal. Zach Werenski turned the puck over to Cam Atkinson, and the former Blue Jacket broke out. He made a nice deke but lost the puck right on the doorstep. At the time, the Flyers were down by just one.

Severson added his second of the night in the second period, a one-timer from the top of the left circle, to make it 3-0. And the Blue Jackets and their cannon kept on firing to make it a six-pack with Nick Blankenburg getting one and Werenski two.

» READ MORE: With Sam Ersson and Ivan Fedotov, the Flyers have some uncertainty in net. Feels like old times.

A bright spot for the Flyers was Olle Lycksell and Adam Ginning each scoring their first NHL goal. Lycksell has upped his game as of late and tapped in a brilliant pass from Garnet Hathaway to cut it to a two-goal game. Ginning scored on a point shot that found its way through traffic.

Marc Staal and Erik Johnson, who played in Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres joined Nic Deslauriers, Denis Gurianov, and Egor Zamula as healthy scratches. Ronnie Attard and Ginning returned to the lineup as a defensive pairing. ... South Jersey’s Johnny Gaudreau had two assists and five shots on goal for Columbus.

The Flyers return home for practice on Monday before heading to Montreal for a rematch with the Canadiens on Tuesday (7 p.m. on NBCSP+).