from Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Daily News,

On a desperate night, the Flyers did not look desperate. Playing against a fast team, a team on the rise, a team holding one of the playoff spots that they want for themselves, the Flyers just weren't good enough. Hanging onto a 1-1 tie in the second period, they made the mistake that so often ends up in their net. Playing from behind in the third period, they were simply unable to sustain anything in the offensive end.

And if the 4-1 final score overstated what happened on Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum, it pretty accurately reflected the postgame mood. Because the Flyers are five points out of a playoff spot with nine games left to play, their situation somewhere between dire and, well, whatever is worse than dire.

And the mood?

"Right now, it's not really good," forward Simon Gagne said. "But at the same time, we have to look ahead of us. There's a lot of hockey left."

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