The Flyers’ most troubling stretch of the season worsened Thursday night.

Rick Tocchet’s club lost convincingly to the Penguins, 6-3, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. It trailed 4-1 at second intermission for a third straight game and was down 6-1 in the final stanza.

Samuel Ersson was pulled in the middle frame.

Rodrigo Abols, Nick Seeler and Matvei Michkov provided the team’s goals.

The Flyers (22-16-8) have dropped five straight (0-4-1). They’ve been outscored 25-9 over this season-long skid.

Tocchet’s club is 1-2-0 in its four-game regular-season series against the Penguins (22-14-10). The clubs wrap things up March 7 back at PPG Paints Arena.

• Ersson denied 11 of 14 shots in a period and change of work.

The 26-year-old has surrendered 15 goals over his last three starts. He entered the game with the worst save percentage of his career at .855.

For a second straight game, Cam York committed a first-period penalty and the opponent struck first on the ensuing power play. It marked the Flyers’ 32nd 1-0 deficit in 46 games.

A little over 10 minutes later, Pittsburgh made it 2-0 with another power play goal after Garnet Hathaway was whistled for tripping. The Flyers gave up two or more power play goals for a third consecutive game.

Aleksei Kolosov was called up from AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley to back up Ersson. Dan Vladar was unavailable after suffering an undisclosed injury Wednesday night in the first period of the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to the Sabres.

Kolosov ended up taking over 2:17 minutes into the second period after Abols drew the Flyers to within 3-1. About a minute before then, Ersson gave up a transition goal to the Penguins.

The 24-year-old Kolosov made 13 saves on 16 shots.

There has been no official word on Vladar, but the fact that he hasn’t been placed on injured reserve is a good sign for his status.

Pittsburgh netminder Stuart Skinner stopped 30 of the Flyers’ 33 shots.

The Flyers showed a little fight late in the third period Thursday night. Matvei Michkov scored his first goal since Dec. 22 after a great pass from Denver Barkey.

• This felt like a critical game for the Flyers.

They really needed to stop the bleeding, but couldn’t. The Flyers have been mostly uncompetitive on this losing streak, their special teams have been costly and they’ve battled injuries.

You can’t blame fans if they’re thinking this is the inevitable slide that will ultimately sink the Flyers’ playoff push. It’s only mid-January and Tocchet’s club is still right there in a busy mix. But the Flyers had a collapse in 2023-24 that spoiled a surprise playoff push.

They’ve missed the playoffs in five straight seasons, matching the franchise’s longest drought.

• One positive for the Flyers was Michkov dropping the gloves in the third period to defend Denver Barkey, who took a big hit from Blake Lizotte.

Later in the period, Barkey recorded his second assist of the night on Michkov’s goal.

For the first time in his career, Matvei Michkov picked up a major penalty as he defended Denver Barkey after a huge hit.

• To make room for Kolosov, Bobby Brink was placed on injured reserve, a stint retroactive to nine days ago.

Brink missed a fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. But whenever the 24-year-old winger is cleared to return, he can come off IR immediately.

Rasmus Ristolainen missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury. The 31-year-old defenseman has been considered day to day.

• The Flyers are back in action Saturday when they host the Rangers (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP).