Bubble bursts on Flyers’ comebacks as team falls in standings

It appears the comeback magic has all but run out on the Flyers.

They have won five games this season in which they trailed entering the third period, including three in January. However, they’ve fallen short in the previous two games and have lost three straight games by one goal.

After erasing a 2-0 first-period hole behind a pair of goals from Wayne Simmonds, including the game-tying marker with eight minutes left in the third period, the Flyers surrendered the game-winner with 1:54 to play in a 3-2 loss to the Bruins on Monday. It came on the heels of a 4-3 heartbreaker in Pittsburgh last Thursday, when they cut a 4-2 deficit in half late in the third and fell just short of tying the game in final seconds.

“The confidence is still there to come back,” Brayden Schenn said. “But at the same time this late [in the season] you can’t find yourself in that situation too many times because teams are too good and lock it down.”

Now, they trail the Islanders by eight points for third place in the Metropolitan Division and the Devils by seven for the final wild card berth.

“If you lose three games in a row, that’s what’s going to happen,” Michael Del Zotto said. “It’s tough to climb back up in the standings.”