Laviolette takes blame for Flyers' skid

Sounding a bit like Eagles coach Andy Reid, Peter Laviolette took full blame for the Flyers' recent tailspin and added he may have pushed the team too hard during three grueling practices last week.

The Flyers, who have been hit by the flu during the last week, have a season-worst four-game losing streak heading into Tuesday's game against visiting Edmonton, one of the NHL's worst teams.

Acknowledging the team had "no gas" in their nationally televised 7-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday, Laviolette gave the players the day off on Monday.

"We had no energy, and I think to bring them in again, with the mental part of it and the physical part of it, I just didn't see the good that it was going to do," he said in a conference call with reporters. "More than anything, they need to catch a break, to kind of rebound on that. . . . I think we were drained. To get a day off, even though it's under the toughest of circumstances and a tough loss like that, I really feel the benefits will be seen on Tuesday by not having to mentally and physically come in to the rink."

In the previous two games, narrow losses to Toronto and Buffalo, "we had energy but we got beat," Laviolette said. "The bounces that were going our way, aren't going our way, like the shots that are going in from behind the goal line. Things didn't click and you could have come out on the other side of those two games. We still could have played better, don't get me wrong."

Laviolette, whose team made a draining run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, said he took "100 percent responsibility for what happened" in the embarrassing loss to the Rangers.

"We came into the month of March and we wanted to push," he said. "We pushed hard for three days and will continue to push hard, but [Sunday] I think we felt the effects of that. We came in and we didn't have the jam that we needed to play a team that had plenty of it. I think it's an isolated [game]. That type of game is really tough to take, and it's one of those losses that makes you want to get sick over, but it's one game. We need to move on. We need to get that energy back up to a really high level."

After the three tough practices last week, the Flyers played three games in four days, including consecutive afternoon contests.

"I do feel like there was some hangover in [Sunday's] game," Laviolette said. "You need to look no further than the guy who gives them the time off and the time on."

"Saying that, when we get the next opportunity, we are going to push. We have an opportunity in (Tuesday's) game to push and to go hard, along with hopefully getting our legs back under us. Then we'll have another practice where we can push and go hard. I think it is important to continue to get stronger and get up to that gear that we need to be at as the playoffs approach."

The Flyers' two-man forecheck, a Laviolette trademark, has been ineffective lately, and the offense and defense have been stagnant. They have given teams too many odd-man rushes and great chances out front.

"If we're giving up 15 scoring chances that are quality I'd like to trim that number down to 10 or maybe single digits," Laviolette said.

General manager Paul Holmgren downplayed the effects of Laviolette's tough practices. It's more about execution than being tired, he said.

"We haven't played good enough the last four games and even before that," Holmgren said. "We've kind of slipped with our defensive play, and it all starts in your own end. We were kind of cruising along and giving up only 10, 12 [good] chances a game, and in this last stretch, we've given up far too many."

"It's not the defense; it's not the goalie. It's (ital)everybody(end ital) _ a six-man unit."

The struggling line of Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino will remain intact, Laviolette said. The unit is minus-22 in their last 16 games.

"The line has produced an awful lot since it has been together," Laviolette said. "I think the easy thing to do sometimes is to blow those things up. I want to try to remain patient and help these guys get through it."

I believe in that line. I believe in Danny Briere, Ville Leino, and Scott Hartnell. Instead of dismantling it, I want to try to see what I can do to help it. Sometimes I think you just go through those times. . ..when you can't find the consistency or the flow. I want to try to get them to remember about the Chicago series (last season), the beginning of the year, when they were on fire and could not be stopped. There have been a lot of positives about the line."

Laviolette called Sunday's debacle an "isolated snap shot" and that he expected the players to rebound against Edmonton, a team that has the NHL's second-worst record, behind Ottawa, which spanked the Flyers, 4-1, to start their skid.

Flyers add Brown forward. The Flyers agreed to an entry-level contract with free-agent Harry Zolnierczyk for next season. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound forward scored 16 goals for Brown this season and was named the Ivy League's player of the year.

According to a report in the Brown Daily Herald, Zolnierczyk was sentenced in a Canadian court in June of 2008 to three years of probation and a conditional discharge for his role in the production and distribution of a pornographic video involving an underage girl.

In 2006, Zolnierczyk and his former Canadian Junior A hockey teammate Bradley Harding surreptitiously videotaped a sexual encounter between Harding and his then-17-year-old girlfriend, the paper reported. The video was posted on a Web site and shown to friends and other teammates.

Breakaways. Jeff Carter, who shares the team lead with 28 goals, will return to the lineup Tuesday after a battle with the flu. . . . Holmgren said there was no truth to a report that the dressing room was splintered. He called the room's chemistry "great," adding, "It's funny how those questions come up when you start losing." . . . Laviolette hinted that defenseman Nick Boynton might soon spell 39-year-old Sean O'Donnell for a game or two.