The 2009 Philadelphia Flyers: Yep, They're About the Same As Last Year

When you're an NHL team trying to make an impact in a young season, the best thing you can do is take a 2-0 lead midway through the second period while on the road against one of the best teams in your conference, right? Not if you're the Philadelphia Flyers, apparently. The Flyers looked like a solid team for about a period and a half, then let the game slip away in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals last night.

After all the talk about improving the defense and bringing in Chris Pronger to help with that, the Flyers still look a lot like the team that lost in the first round to Pittsburgh last season. Yes, the talent is there, but something is missing. Last night was a key example of that. After taking a two goal lead on Washington midway through the second period, the Flyers fell apart. Within four minutes, they had let the Caps tie the game on goals by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. The third period wasn't much better, as Alexander Semin put in what would turn out to be the game winning goal early in the period, and Ovechkin would add an empty netter to close out the scoring. All in all, it's just another loss in a long season that's going to have losses like this, but it's still disappointing to see.

Things have changed with some of the players on the ice this year, but the mentality still seems to be the same for the Flyers. They had Washington on the ropes after killing a five on three power play and scoring two power play goals of their own in the second period. Rather than finish the Capitals off, they let them back into the game with two quick goals. Yes, they peppered Jose Theordore with 43 shots on the night, but most of them weren't worth much, and only two found their way into the net. Meanwhile, Alex Overchkin did what he does best, and, unlike the first time these two teams played this year, the Flyers just couldn't stop him.

Ok, I might be ranting a bit here after just one game, but I honestly thought that this team would be better than this in 2009. The talent is there, the skill is there, but something is just missing. I don't know if it's the mindset of the team, or the coaching, or something else, but it doesn't seem right. These guys aren't clicking right now. It doesn't help that Simon Gagne is right on schedule with his yearly injury: this time, it's two hernias that are probably going to require surgery. Whatever the case may be, these guys need to get it together, or they're going to be looking at another early playoff exit.