Hakstol's Flyers not progressing yet

The nicest thing we can say about Hakstol Hockey so far is that at least the Flyers did not show up late to the starting gate the way they had in the two previous seasons. Already they have quality victories against the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers.

That does not mean this first season with Dave Hakstol as head coach is going to end any differently than Craig Berube's only full season as head coach did a year ago. In fact, the two teams are a lot more similar than you might think.

Despite digging themselves an early hole under Berube last season, the Flyers were 4-3-2 with 10 points after nine games. A team with almost as many wins as losses and not nearly good enough to make the playoffs was exactly what the Flyers turned out to be. With Thursday night's lackluster, 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center, Hakstol's Flyers are also 4-3-2.

Like last year's team, Hakstol's Flyers find it a challenge to put the puck in the net. Going into the night, the Flyers were averaging 2.25 goals per game and had scored more than three goals just once all season. They were 21st in the league. That goals-per-game average slipped to 2.11 after this one.

A year ago, the Flyers averaged 2.59 goals per game, which was, you guessed it, 21st in the league.

The Flyers' best player by far last season was goaltender Steve Mason, and on this night against the Devils he was the only reason Hakstol's team did not find itself down by at least two goals at the end of the first period.

All right, maybe he was just the major reason. A shot off the post helped, too.

Regardless, scoring little and relying on your goaltender a lot is not the kind of system Hakstol wants to install in his first season as Flyers coach.

"There have been some inconsistencies, which is why we win one and lose one and win two and lose two," Mason said. "We have to shore up some things in order to become a consistently good hockey club. It's frustrating because we see the glimpses of how good the team can be."

Kind of like last year?

"Yeah," Mason said.

Perhaps Hakstol will get more of an opportunity to implement exactly what he wants during the team's first extended road trip of the season. It starts Friday night against the same bad Buffalo team that won an overtime game against the Flyers on Tuesday.

From Buffalo, the Flyers will head to western Canada for three games in four days against Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. The Flyers lost in all three of those places last season, and their 10-20-11 road record played a big role in their disappointing campaign.

"There are a lot of challenges and a lot of good opportunities," Hakstol said. "Obviously the focus is the work we have to do at the rink. There is also something to getting out on our first long road trip as well. It's early in the year, and I think that's a great opportunity for a team to get out and keep growing together."

The trip ends a week from Saturday in Winnipeg, and there is plenty for the Flyers to work on. For instance, they can try to figure out the basic fundamental of making line changes. Twice during the loss to the Devils they were penalized for having too many men on ice.

"There's no excuse for that," winger Jake Voracek said. "It should happen twice a year, not twice in a game."

Hakstol accepted the blame but refused to elaborate.

"I have got to communicate better on the bench, and that's the bottom line," the coach said. "That's the bottom line. I'm not going any further than that."

Two of the Flyers' biggest mistakes led to a couple of third-period goals that broke a 1-1 tie after two. First, Evgeny Medvedev fired a blue-line shot that was blocked by Kyle Palmieri, who converted the turnover into a breakaway goal just 1 minute, 28 seconds into the final period.

Less than a minute later, the Flyers were hit with their second penalty for too many men on the ice. The Devils made them pay as Travis Zajac scored his second goal of the night on a backhander to make it 3-1.

Luke Schenn accounted for the Flyers' only goal with a second-period flip at the net that got past Cory Schneider. But he's not the guy the Flyers need to get going. Voracek remained 0-for-the-season despite firing six shots on goal, which was five more than Claude Giroux.

Veteran Vinny Lecavalier made his first appearance of the season, but it consisted of just over seven minutes of ice time during which he was mostly invisible. He did have one third-period shot.

It's only nine games, and new systems take time to implement. Right now, however, the new coach's team looks a lot like the old coach's team.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob