Flaws be damned, Flyers can at least do this one thing for Dave Hakstol

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The least the Flyers can do is play for Dave Hakstol.

They can allow 17 goals in the last three games, their power play can go 1 for 21 since Nov. 21, their penalty kill can be dead last in the NHL, the makeshift goalie situation can sport the league's worst save percentage, but …

At least try.

At least look like you care about your coach's job, not to mention the future of the entire staff.

By the look of things Friday night, the Flyers didn't.

They showed little to no life when Hakstol needs every last drop of effort with a new boss watching closely over this five-game road trip, which is turning into an easy and ugly case file for termination. 

During the 4-1 loss to the Oilers, the Flyers played like they were going through the motions — and that was after a 7-1 drubbing followed by a 6-5 overtime catastrophe in which three goals were given up in the final 1:43 of action to blow a 5-3 lead.

You'd think and hope the Flyers would look like world-beaters the next time they stepped on the ice, playing with unmatched motivation.

The opposite occurred.

Maybe the coach has lost the team. It happens. The Flyers have talked about needing to reset. If they can't do it themselves, oftentimes a new voice is the easiest way to push the restart button and experience fresh life.

The team the Flyers lost to Friday night fired its coach Nov. 20. Since then, the Oilers are 9-2-2 with the NHL's second-most points (20) after letting go Todd McLellan and hiring Ken Hitchcock.

In the Flyers' case, is this all on the players? No, of course not. Hakstol deserves just as much blame, along with his assistants Kris Knoblauch (power play), Ian Laperriere (penalty kill) and Kim Dillabaugh (goalies).

Can Hakstol's pregame preparation be better? Is his system a fit with the personnel? Can he motivate his players? Are the best in-game adjustments being made?

The questions are all legitimate. It's entirely possible new general manager Chuck Fletcher has seen enough for his answers.

When teams underachieve or a season goes awry, coaches take the fall. The Flyers even lost a GM in this mess, too.

Back on Nov. 27, Jeremy Roenick put it well when discussing the state of the Flyers on NBC Sports Philadelphia's Philly Sports Talk.

Listen, this team can win hockey games, they know how to win, they know what kind of effort it takes to win in this league, they've shown they can do it.

When you don't do it consistently, it is a lack of preparation, it is a lack of interest and that's all on the players.

It's twisted in a way. The coaches are the bosses, but the players control their fates.

The Flyers aren't just trying to dig themselves out of another early-season hole.

On Saturday night against the Canucks, the Flyers should play like they're trying to save their coach's job.

It's the least they can do.

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