Zac Rinaldo

It's going to be a longer off season for the Flyers than they're used to.

Among the topics heading into the off season is the job security of head coach Peter Laviolette. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren reassured the safety of his head coach.

Via Sam Carchidi's article this morning:

"I haven't even thought along those lines," Holmgren told The Inquirer in a phone conversation. "I think it's been a difficult year because of the situation. We haven't had our whole team all year. I don't blame the coaches.

The Flyers cannot seem to get any proper momentum going.

Despite building a mini two-game winning streak, the Flyers lost another key player to injury which will keep him out for a while. Max Talbot suffered a broken leg at the end of the second period of the Flyers 5-4 win against Washington and will be out indefinitely.

With just over a minute to go, Talbot collided with Capitals defenseman Mike Green. The replay made it look like Talbot was cut on the back of the leg with Green's skate but the Flyers said after the game that wasn't the case.

The last time the Flyers played the Islanders they won 7-0. A near-repeat performance could do wonders on their psyche. A win in general would also suffice.

Heading into Sunday night, the Flyers had allowed seven straight goals, blowing a 4-1 lead to Pittsburgh to lose 5-4 on Thursday and then getting shut-out 3-0 to the Bruins on Saturday.

Speed and an inability to have a physical presence in front of the net cost the Flyers the game on Thursday. Saturday's loss was three minutes of embarrassing hockey in which they were again out-worked.

Compound those two losses with the 4-2 loss to New York on Tuesday in which the Rangers scored three unanswered to win and the Flyers found themselves on a three-game losing streak and three games under .500.

Hosting the last-place Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, the Flyers needed to drastically change something.

(Pictured: Wayne Simmonds fights with Mike Weber in the first period after Simmonds' hit on Tyler Ennis. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)