Flyers fall to the St. Louis Blues, 4-1, for sixth straight loss

Just as they had in their last three games, the Flyers hung in late against a strong opponent in the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

But just as they had in their last three games, the Flyers couldn’t put together a complete enough game to come out on top, falling 4-1 to the Blues after the Flyers had tied the game with less than 12 minutes left.

Minutes after failing to score on a wide-open net on a two-on-one rush in the third period, winger Oskar Lindblom made up for his missed opportunity. After entering the offensive zone with speed, Travis Konecny dropped a pass off for Travis Sanheim, who carried it down low. Sanheim changed directions and passed the puck to Lindblom at the blue line, whose one-timer sailed past goalie Jordan Binnington to tie the game at 1.

But in pure 2021-22 Flyers fashion, they gave up a goal on the very next shift.

Forty-two seconds after Lindblom’s goal, Robert Thomas set up Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot with a centering pass from behind the net. Tarasenko scored the eventual game-winning goal as he fell to the ice. Empty-net goals from Ivan Barbashev and Brandon Saad put the game out of reach for the Flyers and left them with their sixth straight loss.

“They had chances, but we hit posts,” Flyers interim coach Mike Yeo said. “We missed empty nets. Their goalie made saves. I know that they had some dangerous chances. We had a few. I know some areas that we can tighten up. But that game was a winnable game, again, for us.”

With goalie Carter Hart out for the second night in a row with an eye infection, backup Martin Jones got the starting nod again after Monday’s performance against the Carolina Hurricanes, marking the 13th regular-season back-to-back start of his career. Jones allowed a goal in the first period but faced a total of seven high-danger scoring chances in the period, according to Natural Stat Trick, while the Flyers managed just two.

Jones put together an impressive effort throughout the second period, which was dominated by the Blues; St. Louis led 11-7 in shots, and six of those 11 were high-danger chances. Jones made a critical save against Thomas on the Blues’ power play more than halfway through the second period, keeping the Flyers in the game. In total, Jones denied 22 of 24 shots.

“They had some sustained zone pressure,” Flyers left wing Scott Laughton said of the Blues’ offensive attack. “But I thought we did a good job of keeping them to the outside for the most part. Joner [Jones] was big for us. And then we got our looks when we had them and we didn’t score on them.”

About halfway through the first period, the Blues opened the scoring with a goal from former Flyer Brayden Schenn, who spent six seasons in Philadelphia. Off the rush, Jordan Kyrou drove to the net down the right side, his shot deflecting off the left post. Jones made a stellar stick save on Barbashev on the ensuing rebound, but Schenn found the loose puck and roofed it into the net to put the Blues up, 1-0.

The Flyers have struggled to contain opponents in the first period all season (40 goals for, 50 against), especially in their most recent losing streak. In first periods over their last six games, opponents have scored seven goals to the Flyers’ three.

Going into Tuesday night’s game, the Blues boasted the league’s second-ranked power play, which has scored on 26.9% of its opportunities. On the road, their power play has been even more dangerous (27.4% success rate). However, the Flyers’ penalty kill put together a strong performance on the Blues’ first man-advantage opportunity of the night in the second period. The Flyers held the Blues to one shot on goal and disrupted the Blues’ chemistry with poke checks, blocks, and clears to keep them scoreless in the second.

Yeo shuffled personnel on the Flyers’ power play, rolling out a new top unit composed of Claude Giroux, Konecny, Morgan Frost, James van Riemsdyk, and Keith Yandle. In the first minute and 30 seconds of the power play before the second period expired, the group generated some offensive pressure when Giroux and Konecny each fired two shots wide and Yandle put one on net. Ultimately, the group was unable to capitalize.

“We moved the puck well,” Giroux said. “We had the chances that we wanted to have. I mean, I had a wide-open net, and the puck just jumped on me. Just got to find a way to be more clutch in that.”

The Flyers return to action on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center for their 12:30 p.m. game against the Washington Capitals.