Luke Schenn on struggles: Need a ‘short memory'

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It wasn’t easy, but Luke Schenn walked into the Flyers' dressing room after Thursday’s brutal 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils and manned up.

The 24-year-old defenseman was minus-5, his worst outing as an NHL player. His partner, Michael Del Zotto, was minus-4.

Two of his on-ice goals against were deflections, one off his skate. Still, two games into the season, Schenn is minus-6.

“I don’t know what to say,” Schenn said. “It’s frustrating, but it comes to a point where there’s no point to really even get mad.

“You pick your head up and get back to the drawing board and work hard. I felt good tonight. It’s bounces, bad luck, gaps. You have to have a short memory to move on.”

Anyone who watched the Flyers in preseason knows the defense on this team is suspect. With Braydon Coburn (on crutches) gone for an unspecified period of time, the potential for things to worsen is certainly there.

Schenn is not alone, but he stands out right now.

“There were some bad bounces and some things we've got to clean up,” he said. “Overall, this was just a bad day at the office.

“I’ve had games like this when things don’t go your way, but to this extent, it’s a tough one to swallow. But the last thing you can do is get [down] and hang your head at this point.”

Schenn and Del Zotto were the defensive pair on the ice when Patrik Elias broke a 3-3 tie in the third period.

Elias camped out in the slot without a Flyer within 20 feet of him before Marek Zidlicky sent him a pass in the paint for an embarrassingly easy goal against Steve Mason.

The gap coverages were a problem throughout the game (see 10 observations).

“I’d agree with that,” Schenn said. “Zone entries are too easy. That starts with the defensemen. When you get clean zone entries, a lot of stuff can go bad.

“They got possession, they can look for trailers and they did that tonight a couple times. It allows them to get some bodies to the net and make some plays. And it gets us losing guys in the defensive zone.”

Flyers coach Craig Berube doesn’t put the blame on any individual player.

“One goes off his skate,” Berube said. “There is not much he can do there. He can play better like everybody else.

“Listen, we did a lot of good things, but it’s not good enough. Obviously we lost the game and everybody’s got to do better.”

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