Dawson Mercer hit the post at 4:29 of the second as he ripped a shot from the deep slot. New Jersey extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:39 as Erik Haula (5th) scored from the right circle. A Brenden Dillon point shot was blocked down before Johnathan Kovacevic passed to an oncoming Haula.

The loss to Seattle wasn’t for a lack of effort. The Flyers were all over the offensive zone for large stretches of the game, cycling the puck well, creating high-danger chances, and generally doing everything except putting the puck in the net. It was one of those nights where it seemed like no matter what they did, nothing went in.

Fresh off a win over the NHL front-running Winnipeg Jets, the Flyers had gone 4-0-1 coming off the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, and with 22 games remaining it was clear that although there was a long way to go, one could envision a path to a playoff spot for the first time in five years for this moribund franchise.