Flyers vs Avalanche: 9th consecutive defeat in the first game after the dismissal of Alain Vigneault

Monday has been a long and intimidating day for the Lost Flyers.

It all started with the sacking of head coach Alain Vigneault and assistant coach Michel Therrien in the morning.

It ended in a 7-5 loss to the Avalanche at Wells Fargo Center and many straight questions ahead.

The Flyers (8-11-4) have lost nine straight games, a streak in which they went 0-7-2 and were outscored 43-18.

“Right now we’ve lost our way,” said CEO Chuck Fletcher. “We have to find out how good our group is, but we have to make the guys play better, a little differently. At the moment I think a new voice is needed.”

Mike Yeo, who made his first game as interim Flyers head coach, has his work cut out for him.

The Avalanche (13-7-2) can really light up the scoreboard and have shown why. The Flyers have allowed seven goals in consecutive home games. Game 1 – a 7-1 loss to the Lightning – ended Vigneault’s tenure in Philadelphia.

• The Flyers lost 4-1 in the first period. But, desperately in need of the positives, the Flyers can pull off the fact that they didn’t give up.

It certainly means something right now.

They recovered and came close to a goal twice. Colorado was just too much of a crazy day for the Flyers.

Yeo’s club have scored more than three goals for the first time since October 27. It was difficult to win a track and field meeting with the Avalanche, but the efforts and sincerity of the Flyers were there.

Claude Giroux (two), Oskar Lindblom, Cam Atkinson and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers.

• Giroux, the longest-serving active athlete in Philadelphia, faced another layoff Monday. He played for seven head coaches during his career with the Flyers, which dates back to February 2008.

“Two of our coaches were fired, but at the end of the day it wasn’t on them,” Giroux said. “It’s about our group – the players, the coaches, everyone who is involved with us playing hockey. It’s the business side, it’s not fun, but right now it must be a wake-up call for us.

Giroux had a busy energy on the ice Monday night. He scored two goals in the first period – one evenly to open the scoring and the second on the power play to bring the Flyers down to 4-3 in the first intermission.

The captain will be 34 next month. He is tied for first on the team in goals (nine) and first in points (21).

No one can say that Giroux is not doing his part.

“Right now you’re looking at our group, we don’t have an identity,” Giroux said. “We get a goal scored on [us] and we kind of stop playing. We have to regain our confidence in our group, we have to believe that even if a team scores the first goal, that we continue to play our game, believe in our game knowing that our style and the way we play as a team is going to get – we victory. I think when we get that mindset we don’t start to panic and try to do our own thing and just play as a team, it’s going to give us the confidence to play our game. “

• One big reason the Flyers saw two coaches fired was their 30th place on the power play.

Therrien oversaw the power play, but Vigneault blamed himself last month for defending his assistant coach.

Darryl Williams, in his first season with the Flyers, will now lead the power play, which went from 1 to 3 on Monday night.

With AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley inactive until Friday, Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere was back behind the Flyers bench to help Yeo and Williams.

Colorado caught the Flyers’ shorthanded penalty with three power play goals.

• Martin Jones had the unenviable task of facing the Avalanche, who came to Philadelphia scoring four goals per game, most in the NHL.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper faced 50 shots and stopped 43.

Colorado goalie Justus Annunen made his first career NHL start. The 21-year-old converted 27 saves on 32 shots for the win.

• Nicolas Aube-Kubel was back at Wells Fargo Center for the first time since being claimed on waivers by the Avalanche more than three weeks ago.

On his return, the 25-year-old winger didn’t score a goal with three shots and a penalty in 10:32 minutes.

Dawn-Kubel has two goals and two assists in 10 games for Colorado.

• Nothing works out for the Flyers as they hit the road for three games in four days, a streak that begins Wednesday when they visit the Devils (7 p.m. ET / NBCSP).

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