Observations on Flyers' shootout loss

A dozen observations from the Flyers' 3-2 shootout loss to visiting Florida on Thursday.

1. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has been superb this season, but he has still struggled mightily on breakaways. Hence, the two goals in two shootout tries against him Thursday were not surprising.

2. The Flyers' top line of Claude Giroux (three shots), Danny Briere (four) and Tye McGinn (three) put lots of pressure on Jose Theodore, but the goalie had all the answers and deserved the No. 1 star.

3. If the Flyers would have played the third period like they did the OT, they would have gotten two points. The Flyers sat back and were passive in the third period. Again. They have been outscored 12-5 in the third period this season. They managed just five shots in the third.

In the Sean Couturier-dominated OT, they spent most of the five minutes in Florida's end and had all five shots during the extra session. Theodore was the difference.

4. After his two-goal game against Tampa Bay Tuesday, it was natural to expected Tom Sestito to get more playing time. Didn't happen. The big winger played just 4:18, but he managed three hits.

5. Defenseman Luke Schenn seems to be getting more consistent. He led the teams in hits (four) and blocked shots (three) while playing 23:31.

6. The Flyers have scored two goals or fewer in nine of their 11 games. Is a trade for a high-scoring winger in the works? If it happens, it won't be until after the Flyers see what they have with Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell in the lineup for a while, I'm told. Simmonds (concussion) may return Saturday against Carolina, while Hartnell (broken foot) and defenseman Andrej Meszaros could be back in two weeks.

7. The Flyers' power play had been hot lately, but it was miserable in its two third-period advantages, collecting one shot, total.  The power-play failure cost them a win.

8. Florida looked like a different team with top-line forwards Stephen Weiss (game-tying PP goal) and former Flyer Kris Versteeg in the lineup. Both were injured and missed the Panthers 7-1 loss to the visiting Flyers on Jan. 26.

9. The Flyers and shootouts go together like Gary Bettman and Don Fehr. The Flyers are now 23-42 in lifetime shootouts.

10. The coaches must have told Jake Voracek to stop bypassing shots. The winger had four shots and scored his second goal of the season. He had a total of seven shots in his previous six games.

11. The Flyers' finally had an edge in faceoffs as they won 54 percent of the draws.

12. Mike Knuble, still going strong at 40, had his best game of the young season.

Breakaways. Kimmo Timonen on signing a one-year, $6 million extension: "Family is first to me, and my family loves it here, so the decision was easy." Timonen said he was "99 percent sure" that next season will be his last one…..Matt Read scored his sixth goal in six career games vs. Florida…..Briere on the Flyers' first period: "Instead of being on the offensive, we were on our heels."….The Flyers will have an optional 12:15 p.m. practice Friday in Voorhees.

Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.