Morning Skate: The Flyers honestly may never win again, in regulation or overtime

The Philadelphia Flyers are clearly the blood sacrifice that’s being used to keep their football team running. Sure, it’s two different sports, but as the Eagles have risen to the top of the NFL, the Flyers have dropped off a cliff over the last month.

On Monday, the Flyers took what was a two-goal lead over their division rival the Pittsburgh Penguins and came away with a 5-4 overtime loss. During this eight-game slide, the Flyers have lost in overtime or a shootout five times and have blown leads in six of their games. While the optimist may say that the Flyers gained points in five of their last eight games, the losing streak is more than concerning.

For starters, the Flyers’ inability to hold a late lead in games has become a real problem. Whether an untimely goal allowed by their netminders, a defensive miscue, sheer bad luck, or terrible late-game penalties, the Flyers have been unable to close out games. Not only that, they’ve allowed four or more goals in their last five losses, though it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Brian Elliott’s part as he saw 52 shots on Monday. While the offense has stepped up at times, the goal scoring from the team’s depth players in Wayne Simmonds, Nolan Patrick, and Travis Konecny has yet to flourish.

At some point, you have to wonder how long will the Flyers allow this mediocrity to continue. Fans have been calling for the removal of head coach Dave Hakstol for a while now, but will a reactionary move come or will they just wait out the storm?

The longer the losing streak persists, however, the further out of a playoff spot the Flyers get. As of the loss on Monday, Philadelphia sits six points out of a playoff spot as the worst team in the Metropolitan Division.