Free-falling Flyers maintain belief amid the team’s losing streak: ‘We’re still in the mix’

Across an 82-game season, losing streaks are an unavoidable part of hockey. But the Flyers couldn’t have picked a more inopportune stretch of seven games for their current, season-worst skid.

A week ago, the Flyers were sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Seven losses later, and they’re on the outside looking in for the first time since December. To make matters worse, with just four games remaining, there’s not a lot of runway left for them to salvage their playoff hopes.

“Obviously, not an ideal time for this to happen,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “In saying that, we’ve got a lot of guys in here that care and want to win hockey games and want to make the playoffs, and want to see some improvements. So I think that we’ve got the right mindset right now, and tomorrow’s a new day and a new challenge, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”

» READ MORE: Flyers are mired in a seven-game losing streak but cannot look too far ahead

The Flyers hit a new low Saturday with a 6-2 blowout loss to the basement-dwelling Blue Jackets. All six goals scored on Sam Ersson were by Columbus defensemen, a first in NHL history.

But while goaltending has been a part of the Flyers’ struggles lately, coach John Tortorella said at practice Monday that he and the front office are keeping the current goalie situation in perspective. Ersson suddenly inherited the No. 1 role in January, and has started 25 of the Flyers’ last 31 games since Carter Hart took an indefinite leave of absence on Jan. 23 and was later charged with sexual assault in connection to a 2018 Hockey Canada incident.

Meanwhile, Ersson’s current backup, Ivan Fetodov, only set foot on American soil a week and a half ago.

“Everybody throws the numbers that are out there. And the numbers are bad, right?” Tortorella said. “But we’re not even talking about these games meaning anything for us if Erss doesn’t play the way he’s played.”

The Flyers’ previous worst losing streak this season had been a string of five losses from January 20-27, when Hart left the team.

“Let’s face it, things got thrown into a really, really weird situation when we lost Carter,” Tortorella said. “But having said that, we had discussions in the summer about the situation with Carter and figured something was going to go on. And we’ve got to be honest about it. It’s not a great situation for our team when we lost him. ...

“I made the decision that I’m going to live or die with Erss when I played him all those games.”

As a team, the Flyers have the second-worst save percentage in the NHL at .890, only ahead of the Ottawa Senators. Ersson and Fedotov have limited time to get back on track with four regular-season games remaining. But the playoff door isn’t mathematically shut just yet, helped along by the Washington Capitals’ current six-game losing streak.

Entering Monday, the Flyers were a point behind the Red Wings for the last Eastern Conference wild-card spot, in a three-way tie with the Penguins and Capitals — although Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Washington all have a game in hand over the Flyers.

Tortorella said he tried to keep Monday’s practice “loose.” With the goaltending situation being what it is, the focus is on building back confidence and getting the slumping offense to find ways to finish. The Flyers’ scoring leader, Travis Konecny, hasn’t found the back of the net since the losing streak began, and the team’s only offense against Columbus came courtesy of Olle Lycksell and Adam Ginning’s first NHL goals.

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

“Now we’re kind of on the outside looking in,” Tortorella said. “Does that release some guys? You know, sometimes it’s easier to chase than be chased. I don’t know. We’re going to find out.”

As the Flyers try to save themselves from free-falling in the standings, Sanheim said the team still has hope.

“There has to be. We’re still in the mix,” he said. “We’ve just got to control what we can control, and right now that’s winning hockey games. And we’ve got to get back to that.”

Sean Couturier, who is day to day with an upper-body injury, was back on the ice after missing the Flyers’ previous two games. He started practice with a regular jersey and later switched to a noncontact jersey. ... The Flyers hit the road again to face Montreal on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBCSP+).