Head Coach Peter Laviolette is certainly a far cry from the more reserved and since-removed John Stevens. Thus far, however, the results are the same.
Losers in nine of their last eleven, and 1-5 since the switch behind the bench, things continue to get worse for the Orange and Black.
Saturday’s defeat at the hands of the division rival New Jersey Devils highlighted what Lavoilette is calling “concerns over how we play the game.”
Since taking over for Stevens, the former Carolina Hurricane Stanley Cup winner has worked the team hard in practice, trying to implement his preferred style of play while simultaneously punishing his players for sloppiness and a lack of effort.
Sensing the team might benefit from a day off given their hectic schedule as of late, playing six games in the last nine days, Laviolette gave the boys a valuable rest on Friday, hoping for an extra jump against the Devils.
Unfortunately for the determined new coach and the frustrated old fans, that jump was nowhere to be found.  Down 3-0 with 4:13 left in the first period, Laviolette called time out and expressed his apparent aggravation.
Though the television audience was not privy to all the details of the impassioned ranting, lip readers could make out a few unmistakable choice words. None of them are appropriate for print here.
A sign of encouragement, the Flyers did play considerably better in the latter two periods.  Still, it was nowhere near enough to dig themselves out of the sizable hole they dug early.
Perhaps motivated by the new coach’s style—frequent screaming—Jeff Carter turned in an impressive performance, working hard at both ends of the ice and getting more than his fair share of opportunities against future Hall of Famer Marty Brodeur.
Yet, in typical Flyers fashion, he skated off the ice without anything to show for his determination, scoring zero points on five shots and finishing a minus-one. Somewhat surprising given the usual breakdown in ice-time between forwards and defensemen, only Chris Pronger logged more minutes than Carter Saturday night.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Flyers with matchups against the Bruins, Penguins and Rangers this week.  Crucial conference and division contests like these could go a long way toward getting the Flyers back in the playoff hunt. They might also bury them further in the standings. One thing is for sure, Laviolette will be keeping his team busy between games.
