For the fifth consecutive season, the Philadelphia Flyers will not be a part of the NHL postseason.
The trend is beginning to become inevitable as this mark ties a franchise record. The last time the Flyers missed the postseason five times in a row was from 1989 to 1994. The positive was that they then made the postseason in 11 straight seasons following that. One can only hope that happens again.
There is reason for optimism as the Flyers have won three of their last four games since Brad Shaw took over. They scored 15 goals in the streak, including a seven-goal output against the Sabres. That was after back-to-back games where they allowed seven goals.
A lot went wrong for the Flyers this season, though, as they took a step back from their mostly competitive play the season before. It took until the final game of the season for elimination to come. This one comes with five games remaining.
The Flyers sealed their fate in March, going 1-10-1 in a 12-game stretch. They lost six of a seven-game home stand and were swept on a five-game road trip. That was enough for them to fire John Tortorella, though other reasons may have been at play.
If you're looking for reasons as to why the Flyers are where they are, there are two major ones.
League worst goaltending
When looking at most goaltending stats, the Flyers are among the worst. They have allowed the sixth most goals against per game. Sam Ersson has the 45th-worst goals against among goaltenders who have appeared in at least 31.25% of their team's games. He is 51st in save percentage. Both of those stats have 55 goaltenders on the list to put it in perspective.
If you look at the team rank, the Flyers have given up the sixth-most goals per game. They are dead last with a .879 save percentage. Goaltending has not been good enough, and it's been an area of concern for the Flyers in recent years. At times, Ersson looks like he has what it takes to be a starting goaltender. He went on a 7-1-0 run with a .935 save percentage starting at the end of December that allowed him to earn a spot on Sweden's roster for the 4 Nations tournament.
But since then, he's given up at least three goals in 12 of his last 13 starts. His backups haven't been any better. Ivan Fedotov has also shown at times that he can be an NHL goaltender. But an .881 save percentage in 25 games won't cut it. He's given up three or more goals in 13 of those games. Nine of those featured four or more.
Aleksei Kolosov's story has been an interesting one. But not interesting enough to be a goaltender at this level either. He's posted a .870 save percentage in 15 games and has given up three or more goals in eight of those games. And seven of them were four or more. He was called up at the end of March, but has yet to dress in a game. Maybe he gets one more chance.
It's hard to win games when you have below average goaltending. It's not the only problem this team faced, though.
A power-less power play
The Flyers are likely to finish with one of the worst power plays in the league for the fourth straight season. Their 14.9% unit is 30th in the league. They have scored a total of 30 power-play goals in 202 opportunities to show how lackluster the group has been. They are tied for second in the league with eight shorthanded goals against.
Sure, that 14.9% is up from the 12.2% last season. But a few spots don't equate to success. It wasn't long ago that the Flyers were near the top when it came to their man advantage. From the 2007-08 season to 2016-17, the team finished with a top-10 unit seven times. They had a top-three unit in four of those years.
They have not come anywhere close since. The Flyers may escape a fourth straight year as the 32nd-ranked unit. But there is nothing to be happy about with this group and Rocky Thompson's time should be coming to an end.