Punchless Flyers lose to Flames

CALGARY, Alberta - Oh, (Western) Canada.

There's something about this part of the country that hasn't agreed with the Flyers in recent years.

They started their three-game road trip Wednesday with a 3-1 loss to Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

For those scoring at home, the Flyers are now 0-5-2 in games played in Western Canada over the last three seasons.

The trip will resume Thursday in Edmonton against the upstart Oilers, then end Sunday night in Vancouver. Thursday's game will be a rematch of feuding players, Brandon Manning and the Oilers' Connor McDavid.

The Flyers have scored a total of seven goals (excluding an empty-netter) in their last seven games.

"Our compete level was there and we were creating chances. Every line was in their end," Flyers winger Jordan Weal said. "Five on five, it felt like we carried most of the play. It was just one of those nights we threw everything at him and couldn't seem to get the second one."

Calgary goalie Brian Elliott, in perhaps his best perfromance of the season, stopped 33 of 34 shots.

"I thought we took it to them most of the game," said center Nick Cousins, who scored the Flyers' goal. "Their goalie played well, but that's been the excuse the last 10 or 15 games that their goalie played well. We have to make it harder for him, have to get more traffic. We have to score more goals; it's as simple as that."

With 13 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third period, Michal Neuvirth kept the Flyers' deficit at 2-1 when he stopped Mikael Backlund on a two-on-one chance.

The Flyers had a territorial advantage in the third, but couldn't get the equalizer against goalie Elliott, who took just an .895 save percentage into the game.

The Flames sealed it with Mark Giordano's empty-net goal with 38.4 seconds left.

Calgary, which was coming off Monday's 5-0 home loss to lowly Arizona, took a 2-1 lead on defenseman T.J. Brodie's first goal in the last 24 games.

Brodie's put a well-placed wrist shot from the point past a screened Neuvirth on the short side with 7:15 left in the second period.

The Flyers controlled most of the second period, but Elliott had all the answers, including a key stop on Weal's point-blank backhander midway through the stanza.

Calgary took a 2-1 lead into the third period despite being outshot, 25-13. For the game, the Flyers had a 34-23 shots advantage. Calgary also blocked 25 shots.

The Flyers' power play continued its inept ways during a 1-1 first period in which they missed a great chance to build a healthy lead.

Cousins and Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk traded goals in the first 4:28, but the Flyers later had a five-minute power play, which included two minutes of a five-on-three.

Somehow, they had little zone time during the power play. They had just two shots and Calgary had 11 clears — 11 — during those five minutes.

"A lot of time, it comes back to bite you in the ass," defenseman Mark Streit said, "and it did tonight."

"We didn't win enough puck battles," coach Dave Hakstol said of the failed five-minute advantage.

The power play started after Alex Chiasson was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for spearing Cousins. During that five-minute power play, the Flames were also called for a delay-of-game penalty.

No matter. The Flyers' power play was out of sync, much like it has been in the last few weeks.

Later in the period, Cousins drew another penalty, this one against Sam Bennett for roughing. Again, the Flyers squandered the chance, making their power play — which thrived earlier in the season — just 4 for 41 in their last 12 games at that time. It later grew to 4 for 42 (9.5 percent), causing Hakstol to ponder some changes.

"The guys are getting a little angry at each other when we're not scoring and not setting it up," Cousins said of the power-play woes, "but [the Flames] were doing a good job of killing."

Just 1:30 after the opening faceoff, Cousins' first goal in 10 games put the Flyers ahead, 1-0. Matt Read capitalized on Dennis Wideman's turnover and made a nice backhand pass in front to Cousins, who knocked his sixth goal into an empty net.

"I was fortunate enough to be sitting there in the blue crease and it came right to me," Cousins said. "It was a big goal and a pretty good road period for us."

Cousins and Weal each had four of the Flyers' 15 first-period shots. Weal finished with a game-high six shots.

Tkachuk tied it 2:58 after Cousins' goal, converting a slick feed from Backlund. The sequence started when Tkachuk won a faceoff from Claude Giroux.

With the loss, the Flyers missed a chance to tie Toronto, points-wise, for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

"We're not scoring goals, but we're playing good hockey here," right winger Wayne Simmonds said. "Eventually, it's going to turn, and when it turns, we're going to score in bunches."

But if it doesn't turn soon, their playoff chances will become even slimmer.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull