Vancouver Canucks vs Philadelphia Flyers
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 12, 2017
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), CSN Philadelphia
PREDICTION: Canucks 3, Flyers 2

Oddsmakers currently have the Flyers listed as 160-moneyline favorites versus the Canucks, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

PHILADELPHIA — In the history of the NHL no team has ever won 10 games in a row and missed the playoffs in the same season. The Flyers are hoping they’re not the first.

After winning 10 games in a row from Nov. 27 through Dec. 14, the Flyers (21-16-6, 48 points) have gone 2-5-3 and are flirting with the possibility of making some pretty dubious history.

Heading into Thursday night’s game against the road-weary Vancouver Canucks (20-19-4, 44 points), Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said he’s not looking to make a trade to send a message to his players.

“I’m (only) going to make a trade to make us better,” he said Wednesday. “…We’re staying on course. I don’t care if we win every game for the rest of the year or lose every game. We’re staying on course. We set out a course two-and-a-half years ago and we’re not deviating from what we planned.”

With 19-year-old rookie Ivan Provorov and second-year blue liner Shayne Gostisbehere (20 games without a goal), the Flyers’ inexperience on defense is starting to show. Defensive zone coverage has been a problem for the Flyers in recent weeks, as evidenced in Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss in Buffalo, where the Sabres scored three second-period goals, including one within the final 10 seconds.

Goaltender Steve Mason, who went 8-0 during the 10-game win streak, has lost seven straight games, allowing 20 goals in that span. He has not won a game since Dec. 21, not a good sign for a goalie who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

The Flyers have also managed just 18 goals in their last 11 games and coach Dave Hakstol tried changing line combinations at Wednesday’s practice, promoting rookie Travis Konecny to top-line right wing with center Claude Giroux and left winger Michael Raffl.

“We’re not going to start mixing and matching all over the place,” Hakstol said, “but at the same time we haven’t had a whole lot of success, wins and losses wise, over the last 10 games.”

The Canucks, meanwhile, are looking to end a two-game losing streak. After winning a season-high six straight games from Dec. 28 through Jan. 6, the Canucks have lost back-to-back games to the Flames and Predators, including a 2-1 overtime defeat in Nashville on Tuesday night.

That game ended with the Canucks surrendered a 2-on-none shorthanded goal in overtime after a shot by Canucks defenseman Troy Stecher was blocked.

“The way it ended is disappointing,” Henrik Sedin told the Vancouver Province. “When you get a four-on-three in overtime, we should score. They were blocking everything. We need a little bit more poise.

“It’s obviously disappointing, a chance to get two points and we couldn’t do it,” Stecher said. “We executed what we wanted to do (on the power play) but I just couldn’t get my shot through to the net.”

Despite having Daniel and Henrik Sedin, the Canucks’ power play ranks 27th in the NHL. It failed to score in nearly 5 minutes of power-play time against the Predators.

The Canucks are also struggling away from Rogers Arena with an NHL-worst 5-13-2 road record. They have scored the fewest first-period goals in the league and have scored first in just 14 of 42 games.

“We’re still sitting back a little bit too much (early in the game),” Henrik Sedin said. “We’re not getting five guys in on the forecheck, so it’s tough to keep pucks in when you’re not getting everyone involved. We need to put more pressure on the other team. But it’s easy to talk about, tough to do. If you’re a little hesitant, the other team is going to come the other way, and that’s been a problem for us.”

The Canucks are hoping the return of defenseman Chris Tanev will help propel them in the second half of the season. They are 12-5-2 this season when Tanev is healthy and 8-14-1 when he is out of the lineup.

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New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers
When: 8:00 PM  ET, Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVAS
PREDICTION: Rangers 5, Flyers 2

Oddsmakers currently have the Flyers listed as 120-moneyline favorites versus the Rangers, while the game’s total is sitting at 5½.

PHILADELPHIA — While the backsliding Philadelphia Flyers are starting to feel pressure from the non-playoff teams of the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers enter Wednesday’s rivalry night showdown coming off a disappointing loss to the struggling Buffalo Sabres.

“I haven’t said this very often about this group since I have been here,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told reporters after Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Sabres at Madison Square Garden, “but this was a very bad game, where we got outworked badly. We are going to have to respond here.”

The Flyers (20-14-5) are coming off an 0-2-1 road trip to St. Louis, San Jose and Anaheim and have gone 1-4-2 since their 10-game win streak ended last month.

“This wasn’t our best road trip,” Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds told Phillynews.com. “The games in St. Louis and San Jose, we thought we needed to compete harder and battle more. We did that (in Sunday’s 4-3 shootout loss in Anaheim).

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results, but sometimes it’s not that you change the page overnight and get the results you want. You have to keep working at it.”

The Flyers played well against the Ducks, tying a franchise record with 55 shots in a road game.

“We know we’ve been in a little bit of a lull, but if we keep playing like we did (Sunday), we’ll be successful,” defenseman Michael Del Zotto said.

The Flyers activated backup goaltender Michael Neuvirth (knee sprain) on Tuesday and sent callup Anthony Stolarz back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Stolarz appeared in four games and had a 1.79 GAA and a .938 save percentage.

Steve Mason (14-12-5) has started 21 of the last 23 games for the Flyers and is expected to get the call on Wednesday.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist allowed four goals on 19 shots in the loss to the Sabres and could sit the second end of the back-to-backs in favor of Antti Raanta.

Vigneault might also opt to sit out defenseman Kevin Klein, whose turnover led to Justin Bailey’s first NHL goal early in the second period.

If Klein is a healthy scratch, look for Adam Clendening to take his place.

Derek Stepan said the Rangers (26-13-1) need to turn the page quickly from one of their most lopsided losses of an otherwise impressive season.

“I wish I would had an answer,” Stepan said when asked about what was ailing the Rangers. “Whoever figures that one out is going to be a very rich man or woman. … For me, our execution tonight is really what surprised me. We just weren’t even close.”

The Rangers won the last meeting with the Flyers on Nov. 25, prevailing 3-2 win despite getting allowing 78 shot attempts in that game while generating 39.

The Flyers are hoping goals by Travis Konecny, his first in 23 games, and Sean Couturier, who missed five weeks and netted his first since Nov. 17, will help boost the club’s secondary scoring.

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Edmonton Oilers vs Philadelphia Flyers
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 8, 2016
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Edmonton), CSN Philadelphia
PREDICTION: Oilers 4, Flyers 2

PHILADELPHIA — Thanks to a powerful power play fueled by Wayne Simmonds, outstanding goaltending by Steve Mason and the steady progress of 19-year-old rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov, the Philadelphia Flyers carry a six-game winning streak into Thursday night’s home game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Simmonds is coming off back-to-back two-goal performances and leads the NHL with eight power-play goals. He is tied for third in the NHL with 15 goals.

“He’s been primarily pretty much a 30-goal scorer,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “He’s doing the exact same thing, doing exactly what he has always done. The thing with Simmer is that he doesn’t change his game, he doesn’t waver. I think you are seeing a very confident player right now, a very competitive player and a very focused player. He’s been very important for our group here especially in the first third of the season and that is going to continue.”

The Flyers’ power play has produced more goals this season — 24 in 28 games — than any team in the NHL. Claude Giroux is a big reason. He leads the NHL with 15 power-play points.

Mason has been the Flyers’ best player in recent games. He stopped 42 of 44 shots in Tuesday night’s 3-2 overtime win against the Florida Panthers, his fifth straight win. Florida recorded 85 shot attempts to the Flyers’ 51.

“Mase has been outstanding over the last three weeks,” Flyers right winger Jake Voracek said. “Sometimes you are going to have hockey games like that but Mase was great and we scored when we needed to.”

Mason’s 88 wins as a Flyer moved him past Pelle Lindbergh and into sixth in franchise history. Mason needs six wins to move into third place in franchise history.

The Flyers have also received steady play from Provorov, a 19-year-old rookie who picked up an assist and recorded a huge block on a 2-on-1 in overtime on Tuesday night.

“I think he has done a great job all year long and he is only going to get better,” Simmonds said of the 19-year-old rookie. If you watch him play he is getting better and better, not every game, but every shift.”

Provorov will draw the assignment of stopping the Oilers’ top line of Connor McDavid, Milan Lucic and Leon Draisaitl, who have combined for 30 goals and 78 points this season. McDavid leads the NHL with 36 points and all 11 of his goals have come at even strength.

The Flyers likely will try to match the checking line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Chris VandeVelde and Dale Weise against the McDavid line.

The Oilers are coming off Tuesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss in Buffalo. Jordan Eberle, Lucic (8 goals) and Draisaitl (11 goals) scored for the Oilers (14-10-4) while Cam Talbot made 22 saves.

The Oilers blew a one-goal lead late in regulation and lost on a power-play goal in overtime.

“We did a really good job taking that game over after the first,” McDavid told the Edmonton Journal. “Started slow, battled back, had the lead and weren’t really giving up much, especially in the third period. Give them credit. They found a way to get one, get it to overtime and their power play bared down.”

“It comes down to them pulling their goalie and executing and we have to live with that,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s going to happen in the game, that’s going to happen every now and then and it’s the next 22 seconds when you take a penalty that you don’t need to take and that sets you up for a loss.”

As for projected rosters, Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas is expected to return after missing three games with an illness. Oilers defenseman Dillon Simpson could make his NHL debut. The Flyers activated forward Boyd Gordon and placed Matt Read (upper body injury) on injured reserve.

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Make it one blown opportunity for the Bruins to stand alone atop the Northeast Division.

Matt Read and Oliver Lauridsen scored 7 seconds apart to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

The Bruins are second in the Eastern Conference and lead the division. But the Bruins and Montreal both have 59 points. New Jersey beat Montreal 3-2 on Tuesday night. With three games left for Boston, and two for Montreal, the race for second will come down to the final week.

The Bruins are slumping down the stretch, with one win in their past six games.

“That was definitely a step back in our game,” coach Claude Julien said. “Just really poor puck management tonight and poor decision making. To me, that’s a reflection of guys not being ready to play. At some point, they’ve got to take the accountability of being ready.”

Wade Redden and David Krejci had goals for the Bruins.

Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek and Simon Gagne also scored and Steve Mason had 39 saves for the Flyers.

The Flyers paid tribute to Boston in the Bruins’ first road game since the Boston Marathon bombings. The Flyers showed a message on the video board that read, “From One Tough Town to Another.” They also had video images of four blue-yellow ribbons that said, “Boston Strong,” on each faceoff circle.

There was a pregame video set to “Carry On” by Fun that included clips of marathon first responders and other rescue personnel.

Flyers fans stood and cheered, and players from both teams banged their sticks against the boards when the pregame tribute ended.

Then Philadelphia pitched in with its wallets. The 50/50 raffle that usually supports Philadelphia charities went to onefundboston.org. The Flyers raised $85,595. Also, the Flyers were set to put their jerseys up for auction at meigray.com, with proceeds also benefiting onefundboston.org.

“I thought that was a very good presentation, and it’s unbelievable how the United States comes together with tragedies like this,” Read said. “It just shows how strong the United States is, and how closely grouped the Boston area is.”

With fans still on their feet from a stirring rendition of “God Bless America,” Hartnell kept them there with a goal only 1:40 into the game. Hartnell, who missed a month with a broken foot, scored his eighth goal of the season.

Hartnell’s injury was just one of dozens suffered by the Flyers and a big reason why the team missed the playoffs. The Flyers had 11 players scratched for the game, with defenseman Kimmo Timonen joining the list Tuesday. Timonen has a compression fracture in his right foot.

General manager Paul Holmgren said before the game the Flyers could not use injuries as an excuse for underachieving.

“Good teams fight through stuff like this,” Holmgren said. “We just didn’t find a way to fight through it. Is it a factor? Probably. But at the same time, you need to fight through these things. We didn’t.”

Redden tied it late in the first period when he flipped the puck over Steve Mason’s left shoulder. He knocked in Jaromir Jagr’s rebound for his third goal of the season. Jagr played his first game in Philadelphia since he left the team as a free agent over the summer.

Jagr said he had the most fun of his career with the Flyers and wished a deal could have worked out. Holmgren said Jagr rejected a deal in February 2012. By the time free agency started, the Flyers had moved on to other free agents, including an ill-fated pursuit of Nashville defenseman Shea Weber.

The Flyers broke through for good in the second when Read and Lauridsen chased goalie Anton Khudobin.

Read struck first with his 11th goal when he batted in a rebound off Khudobin’s kick save with his left skate. Lauridsen didn’t do much to earn his first NHL goal. Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara tried to clear the puck deep in the zone but somehow the puck slipped past Khudobin and into the net.

Khudobin slammed his stick against the post in anger and was yanked for Tuukka Rask.

Lauridsen sure wasn’t complaining about the goal.

“Why would I be (upset)? I just scored a goal,” he said. “In 20 years, or a week from now, no one is going to ask me how that went in.”

There was little else for the Bruins to celebrate.

“It wasn’t a good effort,” Redden said. “Look at pretty much all their goals against us. There’s plays we need to make better and play harder in certain areas.”

Voracek scored his team-best 21st goal early in the third for a 4-1 lead.

Krejci beat Mason to make it 4-2 and Boston seemingly still had time to rally. But as the goal was still being announced to the fans, Gagne took a perfect cross-ice pass from Claude Giroux and scored for his fifth goal.

“It’s not fun where we are at in the standings,” Gagne said. “There are a lot of high expectations this year, but I think everything you’re doing right, it’s to help management to show what kind of team we have next year with those young players.”

Game notes

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette told Boston, “We stand with you,” in a videotaped message. … The ECHL’s Trenton Titans have ceased operations and the team will not compete in the 2013-2014 season. The Titans were a Flyers’ affiliate.

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Therrien was angry after the Canadiens lost by four goals for a second straight game — this time 7-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk scored for the Canadiens (26-11-5), who were coming off a 5-1 loss in Toronto on Saturday. They have had two lopsided losses since clinching a playoff spot on Thursday.

“Since we clinched, our intensity and concentration level, our attention to detail and our work ethic, have fallen a lot,” Therrien said after the loss that helped the struggling Flyers end a four-game losing streak. “You see the results.

“It’s a game of pride. You have to come to the rink ready to play. That’s what we were not doing the last two games. There’s no work ethic there right now. It’s disappointing.”

Scott Hartnell scored three goals, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and two assists, and Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson also scored for the Flyers (18-21-3), who matched their season high for goals as they try to make a late push for a playoff spot.

Philadelphia is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, four places and seven points behind the New York Rangers and the postseason cutoff. The Flyers have six games remaining, starting with a home matchup with the Rangers on Tuesday.

The Flyers outshot Montreal 33-28 in a sloppy game that had the 21,273 at the Bell Centre booing the Canadiens.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price was pulled for a second game in a row in favor of Peter Budaj. Price left at the end of the second period after allowing six goals on 29 shots.

“Carey Price obviously didn’t have his best night,” said Hartnell, whose team scored only three goals in its previous four games. “We had traffic in front, we were making plays, we were moving our feet in the offensive zone.

“We weren’t standing still with the puck. It’s lot more fun to play games like that instead of 0-0.”

The Canadiens are in danger of losing three in a row for the first time this season when they play at first-place Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

“We always bounced back all season,” said defenseman Francis Bouillon, who was minus-3 on Monday. “We’ve got a lot of character in this room.

“It would be nice to win a few games. We’re not focusing on the playoffs now, but it’s important for us to play some good hockey before the playoffs.”

They could be without Ryan White for a while. White was ejected in the first period for a direct hit to the head of defenseman Kent Huskins, when the Canadiens were trailing 2-0 just 6:11 in. The Flyers said Huskins had a concussion, and he didn’t return to the game.

White launched himself at Huskins but missed his body and caught him on the jaw. Already in trouble with Therrien earlier in the season for taking ill-timed penalties, White’s future with Montreal now looks in doubt.

Price, pulled in Toronto on Saturday after allowing three goals on four shots, gave up two goals on five Philadelphia shots before settling down. The Flyers outshot Montreal 17-8 in the first period.

“It isn’t easy to play every game at the same level,” Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov said. “Other players can make a mistake, and your partner can cover you. We support him.”

Simmonds broke down right wing and fired a shot that was stopped by Price, but the rebound hit rookie Montreal defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and went in at 2:45.

Gustafsson’s wrist shot from the point went through several bodies in front and trickled between Price’s pads at 5:49.

Consecutive cross-checking calls on the Flyers’ Oliver Lauridsen allowed the Canadiens to tie it as Pacioretty tipped in Tomas Plekanec’s pass in the slot at 19:02. Gallagher scored from in front 38 seconds into the second.

Only 24 seconds later, Josh Gorges overskated a puck behind his net, and Giroux pounced and fed Voracek as the Flyers took a 3-2 lead. Voracek’s 18th goal tied a career high set last season.

Hartnell scored from the slot on a power play at 7:30, but Galchenyuk fought off a check to score at 9:11. Giroux put one in off Markov’s stick at 10:46 for a 5-3 Philadelphia lead.

Hartnell snapped a shot past Budaj from the top of the left circle 12:45 into the third.

Game notes

A moment of silence was held for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. … Montreal rested banged-up forward Brandon Prust. White took his place in the lineup.

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Ruslan Fedotenko added an empty-net goal for the Flyers, who began the day in 14th in the Eastern Conference but only six points out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Boston, meanwhile, entered with the third-most points in the conference (46).

The trade deadline can’t arrive soon enough for the Bruins, who lost for the fifth time in seven games after an uninspired stumble through Philly, writes Joe McDonald. Story

“That was a huge two points for us and hopefully from here we can play with confidence like we did tonight and keep on the same tracks and keep going,” Read said. “It’s been kind of a tough season for us and tonight is a momentum builder. With the remaining games, if we keep playing like that, who knows? We just have to keep winning and try to make a playoff run.”

With just 14 games left, Philadelphia is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007. That made Saturday’s performance against the loaded Bruins somewhat perplexing for the Flyers.

“You feel good about it, but then you’re frustrated too because that’s an upper-echelon team in our league and you ask yourselves, ‘Why don’t you do it more often? Why doesn’t it happen more often?'” Knuble said. “You make the commitment right from the start and everybody was on board today.”

Nathan Horton scored for the Bruins, who dropped to 2-4-1 in their last seven games. They had won four in a row against the Flyers and were unbeaten in their previous 10 trips to Philadelphia (9-0-1).

“We know we have to get better,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who made 19 saves. “We haven’t played that bad, but it’s uncharacteristic mistakes. And it’s something we need to get rid of.

“It happens but then again … we know we need to get better in all areas. It’s weird because we’re not playing awful and we’re losing games, but we know it’s not good enough.”

Coach Claude Julien said the Bruins aren’t playing with any consistency.

“You get some spurts where you’re seeing some good things, but then the next line going up can’t follow up,” he said. “So we are not able to sustain much right now. The biggest challenge is every game we have one line that’s scoring and the other three don’t do a thing. Then it’s a different line another game and then the other three don’t do it. We can’t win hockey games with just relying on one line per night producing for us.”

The Flyers opened the scoring with their fifth consecutive successful power play, this one coming against the NHL’s top penalty-killing unit (91.2 percent). Knuble one-timed Brayden Schenn’s pass from behind the net and beat Rask low and on the glove side to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first period.

“We’ve been keeping it simple, moving the puck when we’re supposed to,” Read said of the power-play success. “It’s hard work and you have to outwork the penalty killers, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

Philadelphia tacked on another goal in the second when Read scored 3:18 into the period. Jakub Voracek found a streaking Read alone between the circles. Read settled the pass, then ripped a slap shot past Rask’s glove side.

“It was one of those changeups,” Rask said. “It was rolling when he shot it. I don’t think I was perfectly positioned.”

The two-goal deficit was indicative of Boston’s recent struggles.

“We fell behind and that’s been happening to us too much lately,” Rask said. “We just can’t bear down and get that lead. … Just go out there and play our game. They were good goals but when we’re on top of our game, we don’t necessarily give up those chances. Or if we do, I save them.”

The Flyers continued to get strong goaltending from Bryzgalov in the second period. His best save came with just more than eight minutes remaining in the period when he sprawled to his left to stop Patrice Bergeron’s diving wraparound try.

Read nearly made it 3-0 about 30 seconds after Bryzgalov’s save, but his breakaway attempt caromed off the right post.

Boston cut the deficit to 2-1 on Horton’s 10th goal of the season 5 minutes into the third. Dennis Seidenberg took the initial shot from the point and it eventually bounced over to a wide-open Horton, who deposited the puck into the empty net.

“Yeah I mean there was already somebody in front that created the screen, but he jumped on that loose puck,” Julien said of Horton. “Absolutely I think we need more of that. Right now, like I said, we’re very average in all areas. Average and not even playing Bruins hockey. Like I said when you only go in spurts, you can’t expect to win.”

Boston went 0 for 2 on the power play and has scored once in its last 16 chances with the man advantage.

Game notes

Before the game, the Flyers acquired defenseman Kent Huskins from Detroit for a conditional 2014 draft pick. Huskins, in his seventh NHL season, was scoreless in 11 games for the Red Wings this season. … Philadelphia defenseman Oliver Lauridsen made his NHL debut. The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder has appeared in 59 games for the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL this season, with a goal, five assists and 77 penalty minutes. … Before the game, Philadelphia unveiled a statue of Flyers greats Bob Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the Stanley Cup to commemorate the club’s back-to-back championships in 1974-75.

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The Anaheim Ducks’ star winger was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for his late hit on Minnesota Wild winger Jason Zucker.

Perry, who will forfeit $115,135.12 in salary, also was suspended four games in January 2009 for an elbow to the head of Philadelphia Flyers star Claude Giroux.

Rob Blake of the NHL’s Player Safety Department explained the Perry suspension in a league video released Wednesday.

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Ford will report to the Blue Jackets’ American Hockey League in Springfield, Mass.

Originally selected by Chicago in the eighth round, 256th overall, of the 2004 NHL draft, Ford has 72 goals and 69 assists in 256 career AHL games with Hartford, Lake Erie, Hershey and Adirondack.

The 6-foot-1, 207-pound right winger, a California native who played college hockey at Wisconsin, has four goals and nine assists in 35 AHL games this season.

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Gagne spent his first 10 NHL seasons with the Flyers, but won his first Stanley Cup title last season in Los Angeles after a late-playoff return from a concussion. He hasn’t scored a goal in 11 games this season for the Kings, who decided the veteran didn’t fit in coach Darryl Sutter’s system.

Before Gagne even got up the nerve to ask for a trade, Kings general manager Dean Lombardi sent him back to Philadelphia.

“They just did it on their own,” Gagne said. “It just shows you the class those guys have. Even if it’s hard getting traded in the middle of the season, going to Philly — and they told me it was the best place for me to go — they’re really gentlemen to do that to me this year.”

Los Angeles will get a third-round pick if Philadelphia makes the playoffs or a fourth-round pick if the Flyers miss the postseason.

Gagne had 259 goals and 524 points in his decade with the Flyers, who traded him to Tampa Bay in July 2010 partly to get under the salary cap. The Kings signed him a year later, but Gagne has scored just 24 goals in 108 games since leaving Philadelphia.

“This is a good player that I’ve known a long time, and I know that if he would have wanted to go anywhere, that would be the place he wanted to go,” said Lombardi, a former Flyers scout. “Given that we had to do this, if we can, I would certainly put him someplace I know he’d be happy.”

Gagne scored a career-high 47 goals during the 2005-06 season while playing mostly on a line with Peter Forsberg and Mike Knuble, who re-signed with Philadelphia last month. Before the lockout last July, the Flyers re-signed Ruslan Fedotenko, who began his career alongside Gagne with the Flyers more than a decade ago.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren spoke with Lombardi a few days ago about Gagne, but suddenly had urgency to add front-line depth. Matt Read is sidelined for six weeks with torn rib cage muscles, and Tye McGinn will be out for a few weeks after breaking an orbital bone in a fight with Toronto’s Matt Brown on Monday night.

“He improves our depth up front automatically,” said Holmgren, who traded Gagne three years ago. “He is a good two-way player that can skate. … Coaches have watched tape of him playing, so we feel comfortable that he is fine. He seems excited to be coming back, and looks forward to an opportunity to play and help us.”

The seven-time 20-goal scorer was sidelined for more than five months of his first season in Los Angeles with his latest concussion, but returned to action in the Stanley Cup finals. He played four games while winning his first NHL championship, but underwent neck surgery five days after raising the Cup for the first time.

Gagne’s ice time was down sharply this season, and he had been a healthy scratch recently for the Kings (9-6-2), who have won four straight after a slow start. Gagne had five assists this season, but lost playing time recently to fellow veteran Dustin Penner.

Gagne only recently pulled up some of his Philly roots. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette has been renting Gagne’s old house in Philadelphia’s New Jersey suburbs for the past 2½ years, but Gagne recently sold the house, with the closing scheduled for March 15.

While Los Angeles started clicking after a slow start, Philadelphia is off to just a 9-11-1 start despite scoring 60 goals, third in the Eastern Conference.

Gagne has a $3.5 million salary for the season and will be a free agent this summer, but Holmgren said the Flyers could afford him after losing players to injury.

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The new captain met with his club for a few minutes Saturday and told his teammates the effort and production weren’t good enough from anyone — including himself.

The message wasn’t kept behind closed doors. Giroux made a public declaration that things had to change quickly. In his first chance to put his words into action, Giroux led by brilliant example.

Giroux scored 26 seconds into Monday’s matinee against the New York Islanders, and added a goal and assist in the second period of the Flyers’ 7-0 victory.

Giroux combined with linemates Matt Read and Jakub Voracek for three goals and 10 points as Philadelphia (7-9-1) earned just its third road win in 12 away games this season.

“We played with attitude. High intensity, and played as a team,” Giroux said. “That’s how we have to play — a full 60 minutes. We didn’t let down and we wanted to win. I think it showed.”

Read had a goal and two assists, and Voracek — added to the line late in Saturday’s loss — had a career-high four assists. Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves for his first shutout of the season and 30th in the NHL.

The Flyers blocked 23 shots in front of him.

Giroux led from the opening shift that included a hit on Islanders star John Tavares before starting the scoring. He hadn’t scored in seven games, and netted only one goal in 14 after posting a goal in each of Philadelphia’s first two games.

“When you’re a young guy and you become captain, it’s a pretty heavy weight sometimes,” veteran forward Mike Knuble said. “A lot of the extra things that go along with being captain maybe drag you down a little bit and maybe make you feel like you’re playing with a lot on your back.

“You could tell that he got something out of his system and was playing like the point-per-game guy that he is.”

Zac Rinaldo scored his first of the season, and third of his NHL career, to make it 5-0 at 3:31 of the third. Danny Briere scored twice in the final period — first on a power play with 9:33 left and then with 2:14 remaining.

“Everybody took a good hard look in the mirror,” Briere said. “(The meeting) wasn’t very long, but it was to the point, saying that we need everybody to get into the game. What he did the last few years for this team, I think he earned a lot of respect throughout the room.

“He could’ve done the same thing without being captain and I think everybody would’ve responded the same way.”

In between Giroux’s goals, Read and Brayden Schenn scored for the Flyers, who had lost three of the first four on a six-game trip that ends Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

“You’d like to bottle it up and carry it right into Pitt,” coach Peter Laviolette said.

Evgeni Nabokov played better than his statistics showed and made 18 saves for New York (6-8-1). He kept the Islanders in it during the first period that was dominated by Philadelphia.

“Our battle level was nowhere near where it had to be,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “We have to find better ways to find it. We have to generate more.

“Nabby has been there for us. I didn’t think of taking him out.”

The Flyers connected just 15 seconds into the second when Read scored his seventh, putting in a rebound of Giroux’s shot. Schenn scored a power-play goal at 7:57, and Giroux connected again with 5:15 left.

Philadelphia scored three times on just six second-period shots.

The Islanders couldn’t sustain momentum generated by wins over the rival New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils in their previous two games following a five-game losing streak. While the Flyers will soon be heading home, the Islanders begin a three-game trip at Ottawa on Tuesday.

“We have to just put this behind us,” Islanders captain Mark Streit said. “We were terrible start to finish. This was not acceptable in any way. We have a chance to get a good night’s sleep and come out strong (Tuesday).”

The Islanders had been riding a hot power-play unit that scored on seven of 12 chances the previous three games, but it failed them during a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted a full two minutes in the first and generated only one shot.

“That was a huge momentum swing on our part,” Briere said.

Game notes

It was Philadelphia’s most lopsided regular-season shutout win since topping Atlanta 7-0 on Oct. 28, 2008. … The Flyers have scored 14 goals in road wins over the Islanders and Florida this season, but have netted only 15 in their other nine road games. … The Flyers have gone six consecutive games without allowing a power-play goal (21-for-21). They have killed 38 of 40 over 10 games. … Tavares was chosen as the NHL’s first star of past week after scoring five goals and adding two assists in three games. … Islanders D Brian Strait injured his left ankle during the second period when he appeared to catch his skate in the ice without being hit and crashed into the boards. After the game, the team learned Strait had fractured his left ankle and he was placed on the injured list. The Islanders activated defenseman Radek Martinek from the injured list. … Rinaldo hadn’t scored since March 15, 2012, also against the Islanders.

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