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Flyers experience deja vu in shutout loss

Wayne Simmonds, Josh Harding

Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding, right, stops a shot by Philadelphia Flyers’ Wayne Simmonds in the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

AP

If you were a Philadelphia Flyers fan looking to dismiss last night’s 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild, you would have grounds to do so.

Philadelphia was without forward Vincent Lecavalier and facing one of this season’s top goaltenders in Josh Harding. At the same time, just 21 shots even reached Harding last night.

“Same story as the start of the year; we just need to get more pucks to the net and maybe more traffic and the puck will start going in,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Their early offensive struggles put them in an 4-10-1 hole that they spent most of November trying to climb out of. They’re in a far better position now, but the Flyers have managed just seven goals in regulation in their last five games. They also still rank near the bottom of the league in goals per contest this season.

The silver lining is that Philadelphia’s goaltending has been superb and they are in the thick of the battle for a postseason spot, albeit partially because the Metropolitan Division has been anemic.

The Flyers are heading to Detroit next for a match on Wednesday (8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN). Philadelphia might have Lecavalier back in time for that match and they could certainly use all the offensive help they can get right now.

Follow @RyanDadoun