Flyers: Impending Disaster?

I'm not quite as angry as this famous fan, but I'm very concerned about the Flyers...

 

It's definitely a slide. Tonight, while I was freezing my butt off at the Phillies game (more about that in another post at some point), the Flyers lost 5-2 in Ottawa and fell two points behind Washington in the Eastern Conference race. In addition, they're just one point ahead of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division. There are two games left for the Flyers, Caps and Pens. It's very possible that the Flyers could fall into fourth place in the East by the end of the week.

They are just 6-8-5 since the end of February. They've lost six in a row at home (four went to the inane shootout). Many of these games, including tonight's, were against non-playoff teams. Most of the games, win or lose, have been marked by sloppy, inconsistent play. They desperately miss Chris Pronger, who is said to be likely to return for the start of the playoffs. With all their touted depth, they shouldn't miss him that much, but they do. Beyond that, though, this lack of intensity and this careless play, with the postseason starting in a little over a week, is alarming.

And their possible first-round opponents have either (a) handled the Flyers well this year or (b) have strong goaltending -- if not both. One year after barely making the playoffs on the final day of the season (having to win in the shootout to do so) and making a stunning run to the Stanley Cup finals while great regular-season teams like the Caps and Pens were bounced out in the early rounds, the Flyers look more and more like they'll be the team getting bounced out early.

Hmmm...I'm beginning to think David Boreanaz is right.