from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer,

Without being prompted last week, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault again brought up how the Flyers have missed defenseman Matt Niskanen in all situations this season.

Make no mistake, Niskanen was a good player and a very good leader for the Flyers last season, his first and only year with the team.

But by the way the Flyers collapsed after he retired, you might have thought he was Bobby Orr and Victor Hedman rolled into one.

It has been a mystifying season for the Flyers, with goaltender Carter Hart going from ultra-promising to one of the worst goalies in the league, with the special teams being a disaster, with poor starts to games becoming the norm.

The most mystifying part, however, was this: The way so many parts of the Flyers’ game became dreadfully bad without Niskanen, a veteran called “Steady Eddie” by his teammates.

Consider:

– The Flyers allowed just 2.77 goals per game last season, placing them tied for seventh in the league. This year, they are last in the NHL — 31st — as they have allowed 3.57 goals per game.

– The penalty kill was 11th last season, with a success rate of 81.8%. This year, it is 30th, clicking at 73.2%.

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