A four-game skid spells serious trouble for the Flyers.

The Philadelphia Flyers were hoping to escape their losing streak when they flew out to Detroit for their third and final game against the Red Wings this season, but their troubles followed them out to the Midwest. Being shut out for just the second time this season, by former orange and black goaltender Alex Lyon, the Flyers have some serious regrouping to do going forward. 

Unnecessary Penalties Strike Again

Head coach John Tortorella lamented how much drawing unnecessary penalties hurt the Flyers against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he'll certainly be even more upset with the—for lack of a better word—stupid penalties his team drew tonight. 

Scott Laughton was by far the worst offender, gathering three penalties, and it significantly hurt the team to have to seemingly constantly be on the penalty kill. They're already missing a massive offensive presence with Owen Tippett being out, so to tire their other forwards out by putting them on a never-ending penalty kill is just not ideal whatsoever. 

The Power Play...

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it just has to be said—the power play isn't working. The strategy needs to change. When you have players like Egor Zamula, Jamie Drysdale, and Morgan Frost available and playing well, you need to utilize them properly. The power play was looking up for a brief moment in time, but now it makes fans groan and cover their eyes again. In the second half of the season, with how good this team has been everywhere else, the power play should not be shooting the Flyers in the foot as much as it is.

The All-Star Break Can't Come Soon Enough

Cam Atkinson said in the post-game that the team needs "to take a hard look in the mirror" going into their game against the Bruins and start "playing with some arrogance" as the break draws nearer. With the low energy of this game, it seems like the team just needs a hard reset to get their heads back in the game, recalibrate their focus, and find their footing going into February. The season is still salvageable, but they're on a time crunch more than ever. Their response to this concerning losing streak is critical, and will make or break what remains of their playoff push this season. 

The Flyers will return home to take on the Boston Bruins on Jan. 27 at 12:30 pm.

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