Flyers fall to Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Pacing back and forth, hands in his pockets, eyes looking down, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette was stewing minutes after his listless team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets Monday night at Nationwide Arena.

Even after a slight cooling-off period, Laviolette was on the verge of erupting when he met reporters and lambasted his players.

"It's completely frustrating. We got exactly what we deserved," said Laviolette in a firm, measured tone.

Four months after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals, the Flyers are 3-4-1 and have yet to win two straight.

"If you don't show up and compete, if you don't execute and play the game with energy and emotion, you're going to lose. All the time. That's what happened tonight," Laviolette said.

He was just getting started.

"There was no jam to our game," he said. "We played mindless hockey, without any energy, without any passion."

Ville Leino got the Flyers to within 2-1 by scoring with 5 minutes, 1 second left, but Darroll Powe was called for an interference penalty six seconds later. The Flyers never seriously threatened the rest of the night.

Only an outstanding performance by goalie Brian Boucher (23 saves, many of the dazzling variety) kept the Flyers close. Columbus, which has defeated last season's Stanley Cup finalists in the last two games - it rallied past defending champion Chicago, 3-2, on Saturday - had several odd-man rushes throughout the game.

The Flyers outshot the Blue Jackets, 29-25, but that number is misleading. Columbus had many more good scoring chances.

With a sparse crowd of 11,727 watching, the Flyers didn't generate much offense until the final 10 minutes.

"But that's just way too late to win a hockey game," Leino said. "No emotion. No energy. Nobody could get going. They got the first goal, and we got even slower after that."

Like a certain baseball team from South Philadelphia, the Flyers are an offensive puzzle.

Aside from a mini-eruption after they juggled three lines in Saturday's 5-2 win over Toronto, the Flyers' attack has struggled mightily.

On Monday, the lines didn't generate enough attack time. When they did, backup goalie Mathieu Garon, who was making his second start of the season, had most of the answers.

Garon, 32, made 28 saves - none better than the quick glove he displayed to knock away Nik Zherdev's low-slot drive early in the third period - and almost notched his 17th career shutout.

The Flyers were averaging just 2.57 goals per game entering Monday, tying them for 22d in the 30-team NHL.

After allowing 14 shots for the entire game in Saturday's win, the Flyers yielded 11 first-period shots - and Columbus had several other good attempts that went just wide.

Columbus had six of the game's first seven shots, and it applied pressure throughout the period.

That pressure finally took its toll on the Flyers.

Chris Clark raced past defenseman Chris Pronger and fired a left-circle shot that Boucher stopped but couldn't control. Kyle Wilson knocked in the rebound with 7:41 left in the first period. It was the first career goal for Wilson, a 25-year-old center who was signed as a free agent in the off-season.

"We were kind of just going through the motions through most of the game," center Danny Briere said. "I wish we could replay this game, but it's too late now."

Pronger was asked about the team's frustration level.

"I don't think frustration is the right word. When you don't answer the bell, I think it's disappointing," he said. "Frustration shouldn't have anything to do with it. We shouldn't be putting ourselves in that position. We should be coming to play at the drop of the puck. Unfortunately, we didn't."

Early in the season, Columbus' power play had been just about as woeful as the Flyers'. But with Briere in the penalty box for hooking, the Jackets converted their first power-play chance as Derick Brassard one-timed a pass from Rick Nash past Boucher with 10:03 remaining in the second period. Brassard was at the left of the crease as he tapped in the feed and gave Columbus a 2-0 lead.

The Flyers' power play, meanwhile, continued to fizzle. They were 0 for 2 with an extra skater and are 3 for 35 (8.6 percent) for the season.