Flyers drop third straight in lackluster loss to Seattle Kraken

It isn’t expected to be pretty down the stretch.

After trading away three roster players — Andrei Kuzmenko, Scott Laughton, and Erik Johnson — the Flyers lineup on Saturday looked quite different than just a few days ago. Unfortunately, the result was the same: another lackluster loss.

This time it was 4-1 to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.

After a five-game point streak, capped off by a shootout win against the Winnipeg Jets, the Flyers have now lost three straight in which they have been outscored 14-5.

“We’re heading in the wrong direction,” said coach John Tortorella. “We lost the first one. I don’t think we improved in the second one. I don’t think we improved in the third one, we’re going in the wrong direction. We got to have something happen. Something’s got to spark us to try to get us going in the right direction.”

It may surprise some, but Saturday was a stark reminder of how young Sam Ersson is: The 25-year-old goalie played his 100th game — 95 were starts. Entering Saturday, he was the sixth-youngest netminder who has played more than 20 games this season.

On Saturday, after two straight poor starts, he suited up for his 37th game, tying the younger Dustin Wolf; Lukáš Dostál is younger than Ersson and entered Saturday with 39 games played this season.

But after allowing three goals on five shots in the shortest outing of his NHL career on Tuesday and another four on 27 shots to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday — albeit the first two were on the power play, and not even Bernie Parent would have stopped those — he allowed four on 32 shots on Saturday.

“Obviously, it’s not been up to my standard here the last few games,” Ersson said postgame. “So it’s just up to me to find my game again, and find it quick.”

» READ MORE: Grading the Flyers trade that sent long-time forward Scott Laughton to hometown Maple Leafs

Tye Kartye tied the game in the second period after he carried the puck behind the net and into the right faceoff circle for a turnaround shot. On replay, it looked like there was a chance Ersson, who didn’t fully react to it, was screened by Rodrigo Ābols, who was recalled on Friday from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

“We’ve got to start putting together good shifts, continuous shifts, start to wear other teams down [and] hang onto pucks more, make more plays, and just get our confidence back,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “I think you can see the guys are hesitant right now, and you don’t play too well when you’re hesitant in this league, and teams will take advantage of it.”

The Kraken potted two goals in 41 seconds late in the middle frame to take a two-goal lead.

Matty Beniers scored during four-on-four action when he carried the puck below the goal line and cut to the crease, flipping the puck in. On that play, he had an open lane when Emil Andrae fell as he crossed with Rasmus Ristolainen, who was sticking with Jaden Schwartz. Andrae was also recalled on Friday from the Phantoms and is expected to stay in the NHL for the remainder of the season.

Less than a minute later, Chandler Stephenson scored a short-handed goal when he intercepted a pass by Ristolainen intended for Sean Couturier. In the third period, Brandon Montour stepped in a faceoff win by Berniers that Tyson Foerster appeared to screen Ersson on.

“That’s my job,” Ersson said when asked about how hard it is to fight through traffic. “I think that’s a goal you can never have the excuse that you don’t see the puck. It’s your job to find the puck. ... and I have to fight harder to find pucks in traffic.”

The Flyers did get some early chances but couldn’t bury one until Owen Tippett got his 19th of the season — and not in the traditional sense. The speedy forward picked up a bouncing puck in the neutral zone, skated down the left wing, turned toward the net in the left faceoff circle, and the puck was in.

Well, they don’t ask how, they ask how many. On replay, it looks like Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans poked the puck away from Tippett but it went into the air and was knocked past an unsuspecting Philipp Grubauer off Tippett’s body.

Matvei Michkov got the primary assist, giving him 47 points on the season. He entered the day tied with Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks for second in assists and points among rookies. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson is first in both categories.

Stop if you’ve heard this one before — the power play struggled.

Across the game, the Flyers had five chances to get on the board with a man advantage; one power play was 18 seconds long because Couturier was called for hooking in the offensive zone.

The first power play of the game, one of three in the opening frame, saw six shot attempts with two shots having to be stopped by Grubauer. The second power play had another five with three shots on goal. But then they went cold the rest of the way with just one shot attempt — a shot on goal by Tippett during that 18-second power play.

» READ MORE: ‘Getting younger’ comes into focus after Flyers trade Erik Johnson, Scott Laughton, and Andrei Kuzmenko at deadline

Forward Olle Lycksell was also recalled from Lehigh Valley and played on Saturday. ... Forward Garnet Hathaway missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. .... Defenseman Cam York was a healthy scratch with Andrae taking the empty spot. Jamie Drysdale started next to Travis Sanheim, Andrae played with Ristolainen and Nick Seeler and Egor Zamula rounded out the pairings.

The Flyers host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday (1 p.m., TNT, truTV, max).