Frustrated Flyers have only themselves to blame

The Flyers are in a bad place right now. Yes, they are in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Yes, they are dropping like a stone in the standings. Yes, they are getting boat raced by the Rangers regularly.

But worst of all is that they are in their own heads, waiting for misfortune. Veteran Justin Braun said as much the other day. Fellow defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere echoed it after the Flyers’ latest disaster.

“I mean, we keep saying in the room, you know, when they score a goal, ‘Don’t get down on ourselves,’ but it just keeps happening,” said Gostisbehere, his frustration at a boiling point after Thursday’s 8-3 loss to the Rangers. “I think if you look at any, any of these games the past couple weeks every time [opponents] score a goal, I think they score in the next couple minutes.”

» READ MORE: The staggering numbers behind the losses to the Rangers

The Rangers scored two goals in 52 seconds midway through the first period and added a third less than five minutes later.

The game before that, New Jersey scored in the final minute of both the first and second periods.

On Monday, the Islanders scored four minutes into the third period to force overtime, where they won it when Joel Farabee handcuffed Gostisbehere with a pass.

Before that, well, you get the point. The Flyers are 4-9-1 in March and have allowed two or more goals in the first period a staggering nine times in 14 games. They have been outscored 23-9 in the first 20 minutes. (corrected)

Hard to win games when all you are doing is skating uphill.