Flyers defensemen need to chip in with scoring

It sounds hard to believe, but more than 10 percent of the NHL's regular-season schedule has come and gone for the Flyers.

With a 4-4-1 record, there have been ups and downs, bumps and bruises, and brief flashes of brilliance. Like the rest of the team, the Flyers' offense has hardly been consistent.

Consider this: In their last two wins (Tuesday night against Buffalo and Saturday night against Toronto), the Flyers' 11 combined goals accounted for 44 percent of the team's total scoring output through nine games.

There has been a gaping hole in the Flyers' scoring, though, in that not one defenseman has scored a goal this season.

Last year, the Flyers' defense tallied 32 goals and chipped in with another 137 assists from the blue line. Chris Pronger finished with 55 points, good for third in team scoring and fifth in the NHL among defensemen. Kimmo Timonen finished 27th among defensemen in points.

And through the first 2 months of last season, Matt Carle was in the top five among defensemen in scoring.

The Flyers' 169 points last year from defensemen stacked up sixth behind Chicago (222), Pittsburgh (186), Washington (179), San Jose (172) and Vancouver (171).

"We've struggled to score as a group and I think the defense is just as guilty of that as anybody," said assistant coach Kevin McCarthy, who runs the Flyers' defense. "The one thing that we talked about, and did well last year as a group, was add to the offense. We're not scoring goals and I think we can do a better job as a group of getting shots through. We're missing the net way too much from the back end. That would be one area that we'd really like to see an improvement on."

Other than that, McCarthy said he has had no problem with the Flyers' play from the blue line. He agreed that from top to bottom, this is one of the most talented units he has ever had the opportunity to coach.

"I think that we've done a very good job of cutting down on chances-against, as a group," McCarthy said. "I think that as a coaching staff, you want to sometimes hide some of your players based on matchups. But we have complete confidence in all six of our defensemen that they can play against anybody's top lines. That's a nice feeling to have when you're behind the bench."

Still, McCarthy expects his defensemen to contribute offensively. This year, Carle (3), Braydon Coburn (2), Pronger (2) and Andrej Meszaros (1) have combined for eight assists.

A big part of scoring from the blue line comes from the power play. Heading into Tuesday night's game, the Flyers were ranked 25th on the power play, operating at an 8.8 percent efficiency (3-for-35). They broke through with three goals on five chances; none came from the defense. They are now 18th in the NHL, scoring on 15 percent of their chances.

"I think we need to simplify things," Timonen said as a guest on Comcast SportsNet's "Daily News Live" on Tuesday. "Everybody knows what they need to do. Our first option should be to get shots through to the net from the point. But sometimes, you hit a slump and it's hard to break through that."

Carle said he thinks the lack of points have come from a lack of opportunities.

"One thing specifically is that it has been hard for us to get any sustained pressure in the offensive zone," Carle said. "We can definitely do a better of job getting pucks to the net. But I think we've struggled getting pucks out of our own zone, and once we do, we're looking to change instead of joining the rush."

Undoubtedly, Carle and the rest of his defensive mates know they need to contribute on the scoresheet, too. That can't just be left to the forwards.

"Teams are so good these days, that you really need to have those fourth and fifth guys on the ice joining the attack," Carle said. "We need to be the second wave."

The Flyers had a full day off yesterday . . . They start their second set of back-to-back games this week tomorrow night in Pittsburgh. It is their third matchup with the Penguins this month (1-1-0) and their second at Consol Energy Center . . . The Flyers, who host the New York Islanders on Saturday, play 16 back-to-back sets this season, tied for 12th most on the NHL schedule matrix. *

For more news and analysis, read

Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at

http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers. Follow him on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/DNFlyers.