Flyers get shut out by the Winnipeg Jets, 4-0, in second-to-last game of the season

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — After going down 2-0 to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre, the Flyers were tasked with the impossible: coming back from a two-goal deficit to win the game.

It’s a feat they haven’t pulled off all season, and Game No. 81 was no different.

In their penultimate game of the season, the Flyers were shut out, 4-0, by the Jets as goalie Eric Comrie denied all 34 shots on goal to lead his team to victory. Two of those Jets goals came on the power play, as the Jets went 2-for-5 on their man-advantages.

The Flyers’ offensive attack was flat all game, failing to generate many high-danger chances or take advantage of the looks they did create. Third-line center Morgan Frost and right winger Owen Tippett combined for eight shots on goal and had several quality scoring opportunities, but they couldn’t find the net.

“Poor Tipper played one of the best games that you’re going to see a guy play without scoring a goal,” interim coach Mike Yeo said. “And he did a good job. He was starting to get a little frustrated but did a good job to continue to play through it. Both guys creating energy, creating momentum, creating scoring chances.”

Looking to narrow the gap with two minutes left in the game, the Flyers pulled rookie goalie Felix Sandström while on the power play for a two-man advantage. However, the Flyers couldn’t find a way to score at 6-on-4 and winger Kyle Connor scored an empty-net insurance goal.

The warm-and-fuzzy feeling the Flyers established last week with wins over the Montreal Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins cratered on Monday with a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, then collapsed on Wednesday.

“Scored one goal,” Yeo said of the team’s last two games. “It’s tough to win. The amount of penalties we’ve taken on the road, that’s one thing. And sometimes [when] that does happen, you can see a little bit more reaching.”

Sandström turned aside 23 of 26 shots but is still seeking his first NHL win.

On April 17 in their 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the Flyers gave up a goal when defenseman Rasmus Dahlin caught them in a line change. He sprung winger Anders Bjork for a breakaway, scoring on Sandström. That the Flyers couldn’t properly execute a simple line change in the final month of the season was embarrassing. That they couldn’t properly execute a line change in the second-to-last game of the season against the Jets was equally, if not more, embarrassing.

Five minutes and 13 seconds into the first period, the Flyers were called for too many men on the ice, bringing on the Jets’ 15th-ranked power play. Ten seconds after Nate Thompson lost the face-off, Connor passed the puck to winger Pierre-Luc Dubois at the side of the net, who turned around and scored on Sandström to put the Jets up, 1-0.

“You could tell we didn’t have all of our jump here tonight, so what you definitely don’t want to do is be chasing,” Yeo said. “Especially a couple, what I would call, needless penalties. You’ve got too many men on the ice when we jump early. We’ve got to be more alert.”

The Flyers’ penalty woes bled into the second period when defenseman Ronnie Attard was called for hooking roughly six minutes in. Then, seven seconds after the draw, the officials sent defenseman Ivan Provorov to the box for high sticking to give the Jets 1:53 of 5-on-3 time.

With both of his top-pairing defensemen in the box, Yeo opted to utilize Thompson, defensemen Travis Sanheim and Egor Zamula on the two-man disadvantage. The Jets had good looks, including two shots wide and two shots on goal, in the first minute of the 5-on-3, but the Flyers held on. However, the Jets capitalized on a winger Nikolaj Ehlers’ wrist shot from the left face-off circle to put them ahead, 2-0.

“Once you get some momentum, some flow during the game and then you end up killing penalties, it takes a lot of rhythm away from the bench,” Thompson said. “Guys have to play more, some guys aren’t playing as much, and it just takes away from the flow of the game.”

With less than five minutes remaining in the first period, winger Zack MacEwen drew a high-sticking penalty to send the Flyers to their first power play of the night. However, the Jets’ penalty kill looked more threatening offensively than the Flyers’ power play did with one less attacker on the ice. A minute and 20 seconds into the power play, Connor had a dangerous shorthanded look that was ultimately blocked by Provorov.

Roughly 20 seconds later, the Jets were in the Flyers’ zone again. Defenseman Brendan Dillon received a pass as a late-arriving man, but Sandström denied his wrist shot. The Flyers generated more scoring chances on their second power play of the night in the second period. However, they relinquished another shorthanded opportunity when Connor had a breakaway down the right wing. The Flyers’ league-worst power play went 0-for-4 on Wednesday night and is 3-for-46 dating to April 1.

The Flyers head home to play against the Ottawa Senators on Friday at 7 p.m. for their final game of the season.