Flyers fall to the Red Wings, 6-3, bringing road losing streak to 13 games

DETROIT — After the 3 p.m. trade deadline passed on Monday, the Flyers lost three experienced players in longtime captain Claude Giroux, 15-year defenseman Justin Braun, and 15-year forward Derick Brassard.

In the first period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, the Flyers played like a team in need of a few savvy veterans.

Interim coach Mike Yeo went with 11 forwards (three centers) and seven defensemen in the Flyers’ 6-3 loss to the Red Wings, mixing up the lines and defensive pairs throughout the game. The Red Wings got out to a 3-0 lead through the first 21 minutes of the game due to Flyers mistakes and turnovers.

However, the Flyers responded and mounted a comeback, as Joel Farabee and Oskar Lindblom pulled the Flyers within one. After Jakub Vrana scored his second goal of the night to pad Detroit’s lead to 4-2, James van Riemsdyk scored to keep the Flyers in the game. Despite the Flyers’ fight, two empty-netters sealed Detroit’s victory to extend the Flyers’ road losing streak to 13 games.

“Overall, I thought we played a pretty solid game,” Farabee said. “Minus a few turnovers that ended up in the back of our net. So if we just clean that up, I think we can play a little bit more of a complete game and give ourselves a better chance.”

In the first period, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen put a damper on the Flyers’ start when two mistakes led to Red Wings goals. Roughly five minutes after puck drop, center Joe Veleno carried the puck around the Flyers’ net while Ristolainen crashed the net — literally — while battling with winger Givani Smith. Ristolainen made contact with Carter Hart, who struggled to move post-to-post. He failed to make a save on Veleno, putting the Red Wings up, 1-0.

Four minutes later, Ristolainen made a check on Tyler Bertuzzi in the Flyers’ zone to strip him of the puck. However, Ristolainen couldn’t hang on to the puck in the corner, turning it over for Bertuzzi thanks to the forechecking efforts of Vrana. Bertuzzi found Vrana in the slot later in the sequence with a backdoor pass. Vrana scored through traffic to extend the Red Wings’ lead to two. In the second period, Ristolainen’s pass to Patrick Brown was batted down by Bertuzzi in the neutral zone, leading to Vrana’s second goal of the night to pull Detroit ahead, 4-2.

“I gave them three goals,” Ristolainen said. “That loss is on me. But still, we had chances to win the game. But it [stinks] when you give them three pretty much free goals.”

The Red Wings got out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Flyers had their share of scoring chances. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Red Wings had six scoring chances while the Flyers had five in the first period. With 5½ minutes left in the period, center Morgan Frost’s between-the-legs pass in the Flyers’ zone sprung Lindblom for a two-on-one rush. Lindblom passed the puck cross-seam for defenseman Ivan Provorov, who was unable to put it on his backhand and the puck went wide of the net.

But in the second period, the Flyers started to turn scoring chances into goals. Less than 30 seconds after winger Lucas Raymond tallied the Red Wings’ third goal of the evening, the Flyers’ second line of Farabee, winger Travis Konecny, and center Kevin Hayes’ forechecking created a turnover in their opponent’s zone. The tic-tac-toe sequence ended with a Farabee tap-in goal. Later in the period, Konecny made stretch pass in transition for Lindblom, who tucked the puck beneath goalie Alex Nedeljkovic’s left arm to cut the Red Wings’ lead to 3-2.

“How we respond, our attitude, the work ethic we bring, these are the things that are most important,” Yeo said. “And I thought that, whether it’s our young guys, Frosty, Tip [Owen Tippett] had another strong game today for us. And I like sort of the relentlessness of us to keep battling back. Just got to be a little bit sharper in some areas to make sure we get the win.”

Going into Tuesday night’s game, Konecny had four points — all assists — in his last four games. Despite making plays for his teammates, Konecny hasn’t displayed his typical scoring touch as frequently as he has in seasons past. Konecny is averaging 0.17 goals per game this season, which is slightly better the career low he established during his rookie season (0.16 goals per game).

Konecny registered two more assists against the Red Wings on goals by Farabee and Lindblom. However, he also had scoring opportunities of his own. Defenseman Keith Yandle’s shot from the point went wide of the net and van Riemsdyk tried to slip the puck beneath Nedeljkovic’s pad. Konecny couldn’t handle the loose puck on the rebound.

The Flyers face off against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday at 8 p.m. for the second contest of their five-game road trip to close out the month.