Flyers’ Robert Hagg to miss 2-4 weeks with injury; Alain Vigneault seeks more consistency from team

As if there wasn’t enough pain inflicted by one of the most lopsided losses in franchise history, the Flyers also lost the services of physical defenseman Robert Hagg in that 9-0 defeat Wednesday to the New York Rangers.

Hagg missed the last 38 minutes of the mismatch at Madison Square Garden, and coach Alain Vigneault said he will miss two to four weeks with a shoulder injury.

The Flyers recalled Nate Prosser from the taxi squad to take Hagg’s spot in the lineup Thursday against the host Islanders. Shayne Gostisbehere was a healthy scratch for the second straight night. He had five goals in a recent 10-game stretch but was also a combined minus-8 over his last three games.

Before Thursday’s game, Vigneault was asked if he had considered putting Gostisbehere back in the lineup to replace Hagg, who has two points in 21 games and an “even” rating.

“You know, I felt the same opportunity that Shayne had, as far as being able to redeem himself after a few average performances, I believe some of our D’s need that same opportunity. So I’m putting Prosser in,” he said.

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Prosser, like Hagg, is a defensive-minded defenseman.

In addition to Prosser, Oskar Lindblom, Nic Aube-Kubel, and Carsen Twarynski went back into the lineup, while Andy Andreoff, Connor Bunnaman, and Michael Raffl were scratched. Raffl, who returned Wednesday after missing four games with a hand injury, needed a “maintenance day,” according to Vigneault.

The Flyers were trying to bounce back from the worst shutout road loss in franchise history. Overall, it equaled the second-worst loss in their history, topped only by a 12-0 disaster against Chicago in 1969.

Vigneault said a “short memory” was needed, “and it’s also about responding the right way, motivating yourself to go out there, preparing yourself to go out there and compete and execute.”

The coach said the Flyers were having “consistency issues in our game. There’s no doubt about that. Some of our players are going from a grade-A performance to a C performance. In this league, that’s just not good enough.”

Added Vigneault: “You can’t always be at your top, with the demands of every individual game and the schedule, but you can’t have the dropoffs that we’re having as a team right now – whether it’s a pair on D, or a line, or an individual on each line. We need to be more consistent. That’s an area we’re addressing with our group, and we’re addressing individually with certain players.”

Wednesday’s 9-0 loss to the Rangers marked the 20th occasion in 4,142 regular-season games that the Flyers allowed nine or more goals.

Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers were each minus-6, equaling a dubious franchise record done nine times.

The Flyers entered Thursday 29th in the 31-team NHL, allowing 3.48 goals per game. They were tied for seventh last season, permitting just 2.77 goals a game.

Samuel Morin, who had been converted to left wing, has played the last five games with the Phantoms on defense. The first four of those AHL games were because injuries had depleted the defense, but he remained there even when the Phantoms had enough healthy defensemen. He has played well on defense and had a plus-3 rating in those five games. ... The Phantoms’ game Friday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has been postponed because of the COVID-19 protocol connected to Lehigh Valley’s team.