Jakub Voracek

The captain has come to play hockey.

Only days after a candid interview in which he told reporters there has been a lack of effort on the ice by the team, Claude Giroux backed up his biting words with a two-goal effort, leading the Flyers past the Islanders, 7-0.

It was Giroux's first two-goal game of the 2013 season, and he snapped a seven-game goal drought in the process.

(Pictured: Claude Giroux celebrates with Jakub Voracek in the first period after scoring. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

With Carey Price out with the flu and a struggling Peter Budaj in net for the Canadiens, all the Flyers had to do was put shots on net and get pressure on the back-up netminder.

They did neither of that, and frankly, that is why they dropped their ninth regulation loss of the season.

In what was one of the most miserable outings of the 2013 season, the Flyers looked like a lost team.

The Flyers travel to North Jersey where they hope to slow down a hot Devils team. A win here is two big points closer to the top of the Atlantic Division.

After what was looking to be a year without hockey, we found ourselves at the quarter-mark of the 2013 NHL season.

It's already been a fun-filled first three weeks of hockey. Perennial giants are struggling, some super stars are still in search of their scoring touch and even the Chicago Blackhawks have managed to play their first 11 games without a regulation loss.

12 games into the 48-game shortened season, the Flyers find themselves with a 5-6-1 record and 11 points, good for third place in the Atlantic Division.

At that point, they sit behind the first place Devils (7-1-3; 17 points) and second place Penguins (8-4-0; 16 points). It could be much worse, especially since the Flyers were at one point 2-6-0 to start the season.

(Pictured: Ilya Bryzgalov and Zac Rinaldo after the Flyers won, 4-3, in overtime on Saturday. Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)