Ivan Fedotov struggles and other takeaways from the Flyers’ sixth-straight loss

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Flyers lost. Again.

The losing streak is now at six games, the longest of the season thanks to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.

In the three games leading into Friday, the Flyers had been outscored 13-5. But the good news is, despite the result, the Flyers played their best game since losing in overtime to the New York Rangers on March 26.

Here are three takeaways from another painful defeat .

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

Ivan Fedotov made his first NHL start Friday and he’d probably like a redo.

The Russian netminder made his NHL debut Monday in relief of Sam Ersson against the New York Islanders and was nothing short of spectacular. He made 19 saves on 21 shots and helped the Flyers send the game to overtime to earn a much-needed point.

On Friday, he allowed four goals on 19 shots and didn’t look comfortable in net.

“Not the best game for me. ... First start of a game in the NHL and, I don’t know, 100% I should be better,” Fedotov said.

To be fair, he hasn’t had much ice time since being introduced by the Flyers a week ago. He was the backup last Saturday before the team was off Sunday and Tuesday. He got a pretty full morning skate Monday and practiced Wednesday but it’s not a lot of ice time to get acclimated to his teammates, NHL rink dimensions, and new gear.

Fedotov said he felt a little nervous; it’s good to be a little nervous and excited for a first start, he said. But Friday was a hard game for him to find his rhythm. “One hundred percent,” he said as he only faced four shots in the first period, eight in the second and seven in the third. The first shot of the night by the Sabres didn’t come until almost six minutes into the game.

“It’s my problem, not [the] team or whoever,” he said a few times before adding he’s “feeling better every day” and is adapting more and more.

But coach John Tortorella knows it wasn’t easy for the rookie goalie.

“Hard game to play,” Tortorella said. “Hard game because he didn’t get much action, not many chances. But it’s both. I think we need another save, but I also think we need to capitalize on our chances. And that’s the difference in the game.”

Yes, the Flyers out-chanced the Sabres 74-54, including putting 34 shots on net, but they struggled to get shots from in tight. According to Natural Stat Trick, 17 of their shots were low-danger chances.

The two goals were both low-danger but the Flyers controlled play for swaths of the game.

“I thought we played the right way,” Tortorella said. “It’s as on-toes as we’ve been in a few weeks here now. So that’s how we have to play. We have to bury some of our chances, obviously, but that’s the way we need to play. A lot of the game I’m happy about, we just didn’t finish.”

Noah Cates and Owen Tippett did finish. Cates has been one of the Flyers’ best players of late and has goals in consecutive games. His goal Friday night came after the Orange and Black dominated a long stretch in the Sabres zone. Tippett’s career-best 28th of the season came in the third from the point.

“I think that’s the fastest we’ve played with the puck, and without, in a while,” Tippett said. “Obviously it’s a good way to start this road trip off and build off it for sure. Didn’t get results but look forward to tomorrow.”

Once again the power play struggled to generate offense. After scoring a goal with the man advantage in three straight, the Flyers are now 0-for-11 in their past four games. Friday night saw Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, Travis Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink on the first power play and Tippett, Cam York, Joel Farabee, Scott Laughton, and Cates on the second.

» READ MORE: ‘Nothing short of spectacular’: Sean Couturier named Flyers’ Masterton Trophy nominee

It took 67 seconds into their first power play of the night to register a shot attempt. Laughton’s shot was blocked by Farabee who was screening the goalie before York put a shot on goal three seconds later. But that was it.

Konecny drew another power play with 15 seconds to go in the first. Across that power play, the Flyers had four shot attempts. Drysdale, Frost, and Cates each with a shot on goal.

“Yeah, it can be frustrating,” Tippett said. “Obviously, it hasn’t been where we wanted it all year. We started to roll a little bit there, I think after Christmas for a bit but obviously, we got to just try and gain momentum if we’re not scoring. We have to gain momentum so that five-on-five, we can kind of build off that and have some energy.”

Buckle up because things are getting downright intense.

On Friday night, the Flyers lost. But so did the Washington Capitals and Detroit Red Wings. Outside of the Sabres, who remain a longshot, the only team who made a move regarding a postseason spot was the idle New York Islanders. They moved into third place in the Metropolitan Divison only because they have played one less game than the Flyers. The two teams are tied on 83 points.

With the Sabres win, six teams are now vying for the two remaining playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Woah. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs clinched Friday, joining the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Rangers, and Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

For the Red Wings and Sabres, the only teams in chase in the Atlantic Division, their only option is the second wild card. For the Flyers, Capitals, Islanders, and Pittsburgh Penguins — yes, Sidney Crosby and Co. are back in the hunt — there’s the third spot in the Metro or the second wild card.

Four points separate the six teams with only the Flyers and Sabres having five games left; everyone else has six. Despite a six-game losing streak, the Orange and Black are still in the mix — the only issue is the hourglass is quickly emptying.

“We’re obviously in a good spot,” Cates said. “And we’re in a spot that I don’t think anyone thought we’d be in, except for the guys in here. So we’re really positive. We like where we’re at. It’s just finding a way, whatever way it is — front door, back door, through the roof is kind of what we’re saying — just find a way to win.

“So it doesn’t have to be pretty. I think that’s kind of what we need to reiterate, doesn’t have to be pretty this time of year and just getting two points is all we need to be looking forward to tomorrow.”