Coach takes blame for Flyers' 4-game slump

And, on the eighth day, they rested.

In the shadow of Sunday's 7-0 shellacking against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette shined the spotlight of blame on himself.

The Flyers, in a four-game losing streak, did not practice yesterday, to revive their tired legs and slumping spirits.

Laviolette observed that the lack of energy in the worst loss of the season should be directly attributed to the Flyers' recent workload. Following a 4-1 clunker against Ottawa, Laviolette put his players through 3 days of grueling workouts in preparation for a March push of 15 games in 29 days.

"If I am being honest, I have to take 100 percent responsibility for what happened [Sunday]," he said. "We came into the month of March, and we wanted to push. We pushed hard for 3 days and will continue to push hard, but [Sunday] I think we felt the effects of that."

By shouldering the blame for the team's worst regular-season shutout loss since 1994, Laviolette deflected the glare from a suddenly toothless offense and made less valid the suggestion that lines need to be reconfigured.

"I think the easy thing to do sometimes is to blow those things up," Laviolette said.

The most glaring offensive drought has come from the trio of Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino, a misfit line thrown together late last season that carried the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals.

The line has has one point - a Hartnell goal - during the losing streak. Briere, tied for the team lead with 28 goals, has not scored in eight games, during which the Flyers are 2-5-1.

Laviolette is tempted to disassemble that line, but he will not do it yet.

"I want to try to remain patient," Laviolette said. "I believe in that line. Instead of dismantling it, I want to try to see what I can do to help it."

Laviolette still hopes the strategy of driving hard through March will pay dividends as his top-seeded club enters the playoffs. At some point, he again will push their limits, he said, but perhaps not to the recent extent.

Three tough practices preceded three games in 4 days, two of them day games, all of them losses. The Flyers also practiced briefly but vigorously on Friday.

It didn't help that several players were battling a flu bug at the time. Only Jeff Carter remained sidelined Sunday, but at least three other players had been stricken.

All of which meant no "pop" on Sunday, Laviolette said.

"If you practice hard and get those practices in for 3 days, you play a game, then come out and have a brisk practice, then play another two games, afternoon games, I do feel like there was some hangover in [Sunday] afternoon's game. You need to look no further than the guy who gives them the time off and the time on.''

His team rested and refreshed mentally and physically, Laviolette expects the Flyers to be "great" tonight when Edmonton visits.

Edmonton's 54 points rank second to last in the NHL, but the Oilers have won three straight.

Jeff Carter missed Thursday's game with the flu, traveled to attend a funeral Friday, played Saturday, then had a flu relapse before Sunday's game and was sent home. He is expected to be available tonight. He shares the team lead with 28 goals . . . Peter Laviolette blamed shoddy defense more than shaky goal-tending for the Flyers' recent spate of vulnerability. They have been outscored, 19-6, during their four-game skid . . . The power play remains ineffective, in a 2-for-32 slide . . . The Flyers signed Brown University's Harry Zolnierczyk, the Ivy League's Player of the Year, to an entry-level free-agent contract for next season. Zolnierczyk led the Ivies with eight goals in league play, and tied for the league lead with 11 points. *