Flyers lose, 4-1, to the Minnesota Wild and are officially out of playoff contention

ST. PAUL, Minn. — After a dismal season underscored by 10-, 13-, and six-game losing streaks, the Flyers officially fell out of playoff contention on Tuesday with their 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, exactly one month before the conclusion of the regular season.

The Wild outplayed the Flyers for the majority of the first two periods at the Xcel Energy Center, outshooting them, 29-16. Four straight goals for the Wild created an insurmountable challenge for the Flyers, who have averaged 2.59 goals for per game this season (30th in the league).

“Panic set in for no reason,” winger Cam Atkinson said of the Flyers’ mindset after the first Wild goal. “Obviously, we can’t do that. Showed what we can do in the first 15, wanting the puck, demanding the puck and trying to make plays.

“And then, just kind of deflated the bench when they scored.”

However, the Flyers didn’t hang up their skates in the third period. After Joel Farabee drew a high-sticking call three minutes in, Morgan Frost scored on the power play to get the Flyers on the board.

Despite their third-period surge, outshooting the Wild, 17-8, the Flyers fell short of a comeback.

“It’s easy right now to just get down and get negative,” interim coach Mike Yeo said. “We’ve got to find a way to keep pushing. And that’s why I give the guys credit in the third period.”

Now, the Flyers will miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1990-1994 when they failed to reach the postseason for five straight years.

For the first half of the first period, the Flyers killed plays quickly in their own zone and got on the attack. However, the Wild woke up in the second half of the first period, outshooting the Flyers, 11-0, in the final 8:30. Two of those 11 shots on goal found their way past goalie Martin Jones.

The first tally came after a James van Riemsdyk giveaway in the Flyers’ zone led to a tic-tac-toe passing sequence for the Wild, ending in a Matt Dumba goal to put Minnesota up, 1-0. The Wild pounced less than two minutes later on the power play when Kirill Kaprizov scored from the left face-off circle to make it 2-0, Wild. Minnesota carried that momentum into the second period, outshooting the Flyers, 13-4, and notching two more goals from Jordan Greenway and Kevin Fiala.

“I’m not sure if we think it’s gonna be an easy game coming out in the second period, cause we thought we played decent a little bit in the first period,” Atkinson said. “But we’re down by two, so we’re in no position to take our foot off the gas pedal.”

Stillwater, Minn., native Noah Cates made his NHL debut with the Flyers in his home state in front of nearly 150 friends and family members. Starting on the third line alongside Frost and Tippett, Cates looked confident and comfortable in his first game.

Cates made noticeable offensive and defensive plays in the first period. Ten minutes in, Cates forced a turnover in the neutral zone on Tyson Jost and carried the puck into the offensive zone. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury denied Cates’ backhander on goal, but Cates recouped the puck behind the net to set Rasmus Ristolainen up for a wrist shot from the blue line.

Later, when the Wild broke out on a rush, Cates’ backchecking efforts disrupted Kaprizov and warded off a potential scoring opportunity. To start the third period, Yeo moved Cates up to the top line with Atkinson and Joel Farabee.

“I think I needed to get that first shift out of the way,” Cates said. “Kind of just get that under my belt, and I thought I was better from there. The nerves kind of went away after that and got playing and got in the flow.”

Dating back to Jan. 1, the Flyers have the league’s worst power play (10.8% success rate) and penalty kill (68.5% kill rate). Against the Wild, the Flyers were 1-for-4 on the power play, bringing their record on the road trip to 1-for-13. Frost capitalized on the man-advantage four minutes into the third period, the Flyers’ first power-play goal since March 20.

“It’s nice to bury one, but the game was a little out of reach,” Frost said.

The Flyers technically allowed one power play goal, but Fiala scored during a delayed penalty to put the Wild up, 4-0. The biggest bright spot of the Flyers’ special teams was Cates, who had 1:13 of ice time on the penalty kill. His pass breakup on the second Wild power play of the night helped the Flyers clear the zone and kill the penalty.

The Flyers return home on Saturday after a five-city road trip to play the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m.