The Flyers were quiet offensively Thursday night, giving Dan Vladar little support in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Senators.
Jamie Drysdale scored with just 1:14 minutes left in regulation to force OT.
Tim Stutzle scored the winner for Ottawa just 47 seconds into the bonus session. Nine seconds before that, Travis Konecny was denied on a 2-on-1 rush with Christian Dvorak.
“We’re getting some chances,” Rick Tocchet said, “but we’re not burying them.”
The Flyers fell to 2-8 in overtime (they’re 5-3 in the shootout). They also dropped to 8-4-11 in games decided by one goal.
“Tonight was difficult because T.K. had a great shot, just barely hit the top of his pad, it could be a different story,” Nick Seeler said. “We need to continue to work on 3-on-3 overtime and possess the puck.”
The Flyers (25-20-11) head into the Olympic break having lost 12 of their last 15 games (3-8-4). They’ve been outscored 62-38 in that stretch.
Tocchet’s club failed to build off its 4-2 win Tuesday night over the Capitals. The Flyers haven’t won consecutive games in a month. The last time they did was Jan. 3-6.
“Earlier in the season, when we were fighting for one of the top positions in the division, we realized that was probably a little ahead of schedule, probably getting better results that were warranted at the time,” general manager Danny Briere said Tuesday night. “What has happened now, the way we’ve been playing lately and what’s happening, I also know that it’s not as bad as the way we’ve been playing. So we’re somewhere in between all of that.”
The Flyers went 0-1-2 against the Senators (28-22-7) in their regular-season series.
Coming off his team’s overtime loss Thursday night to the Senators, Rick Tocchet shared his thoughts about the Flyers heading into the Olympic break.
• Vladar once again performed like the Flyers’ best player.
The 28-year-old carried his team with 25 saves on 27 shots.
“He’s coming to play every night,” Tocchet said. “He has been solid all year.”
Ottawa cracked Vladar midway through the game when Nick Cousins scored on a rebound.
Senators netminder James Reimer stopped 15 of the Flyers’ 16 shots.
“It was a tight match out there — both sides, I didn’t think there was much going on,” Sean Couturier said. “I think as the year goes on, these are the type of games that we’re going to have to get used to playing. I thought we did a good job just sticking in there, getting a big goal at the end.
“It’s tough losing, not getting the extra point, but I think this could be a huge point here down the road.”
• A month ago, the Flyers were in playoff position as they beat the Ducks, 5-2, to take over third place.
But the Flyers are now in sixth place. They’re eight points back of the third-place Islanders in a crowded Metropolitan Division. They’ve played two fewer games than New York.
“We’ll need to get red-hot,” Drysdale said. “I think we’re capable of it. Everyone take this break, reset. … We’ve got to come out swinging right away.”
• The Flyers had just eight shots at second intermission.
They had little going offensively. They finally started to generate some looks after Ottawa took its lead, but they couldn’t scratch one across.
Drysdale saved them late in the third period with a great shot to earn the Flyers a point.
WOW! After the Flyers were down 1-0 for half of the game, Jamie Drysdale scored with under two minutes left in regulation to tie it up.
• Couturier nearly snapped his goal-scoring drought with a drive to the net in the third period. But the Flyers’ captain was denied and his rebound attempt went wide. He has gone 29 straight games without a goal.
• The Flyers at least prevented Claude Giroux from hurting them.
The team’s former captain has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 12 career games against the Flyers after going scoreless Thursday night.
• Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch for a fifth straight game.
Tocchet and assistant coach Todd Reirden wanted to keep Noah Juulsen in the lineup because of the penalty kill’s recent run of success. But Juulsen ended up not playing at shorthanded (the Flyers committed just one penalty).
The Flyers need to find a way to get Andrae back in the lineup after the break.
• The Flyers now go 19 days without a game because of the NHL’s participation in the Olympics.
The club has three players heading to Italy as Vladar will play for Team Czechia, Travis Sanheim for Team Canada and Rasmus Ristolainen for Team Finland.
Rodrigo Abols won’t suit up for Team Latvia after suffering a lower-body injury last month.
Tocchet will represent the Flyers as an assistant coach on Team Canada’s staff.
While the Olympics are in action, the Flyers are scheduled to resume practice Feb. 17. Their first game back from the break is Feb. 25 when they visit the Capitals (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).