NHL 2012-13: Philadelphia Flyers Start 0-3 - Are They Still a Playoff Team?

A year ago, the Philadelphia Flyers were a top contender in the Eastern Conference. The team finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with 103 points and went all the way to the second round of the playoffs.

With a 48 game schedule, every game becomes all the more meaningful and every loss more dangerous. Three games in, the Philadelphia Flyers have looked completely lost and ineffective as they have been defeated in all of the games.

In their first match, the team was out-skated and outplayed by the Pittsburgh Penguins who were clearly intent on getting revenge for the embarrassing playoff series Philadelphia subjected them to last Spring. In their second game, the Flyers were outlasted by a solid Buffalo Sabres team that came back from a 2-1 deficit to shutdown the Flyers 5-2. In their last match on Tuesday, Philadelphia was completely shut out by the New Jersey Devils 3-0. A year ago, this team had the third best offense in the league, but this season it has thus far been ineffective.

Center Claude Giroux scored 93 points a year ago and he is off to a solid start this season with two goals in three games. Many questioned whether the departure of legend Jaromir Jagr would hurt Giroux's development, but early on this is not the case. The secondary scoring has been a problem however. The team did not bring in any major stars to fill in Jagr's void as Flyers' management hoped to see more development from its surprising crop of rookies a year ago. However, many of these sophomores have not looked up to the task in the early going of this season and if even a few undergo the infamous "sophomore slump," this team could be in for a long season.

With 11 goals allowed in three games, it would be easy to point at the defense and goal tending. The continued absence of Chris Pronger coupled with the departure of Matt Carle has clearly rendered this defense weaker than past iterations. The defense has allowed at least 27 shots on goal in each game and allowed more than 40 against Buffalo. More importantly, in their three games the Flyers have allowed goals to other teams' star players. Evgeni Malkin and James Neal combined on a goal in the Pittsburgh game; Thomas Vanek broke out for five points in the Buffalo game; and Ilya Kovalchuk had two points, including a goal in the New Jersey game. This could indicate that this defense may not be up to the task of stopping the other team's top players.

Ilya Bryzgalov is usually the scapegoat after the dreadful year he had in 2011-12. However, he has not been at fault on most of the goals allowed and it would be unfair to pin the poor start on him.

The Flyers' next game could potentially put them to 0-4 as they take on the hated New York Rangers. A year ago, the Rangers won all six matches between the two teams including the Winter Classic.