Vigneault fired as coach of Flyers, replaced by Yeo

The 60-year-old was in his third season. He was replaced by assistant Mike Yeo. Assistant Michel Therrien was also fired.

The Flyers (8-10-4) have lost eight straight games (0-6-2), including 7-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, and are seventh in the eight-team Metropolitan Division. They play the Colorado Avalanche at home Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, NBCSP+, ALT, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).

“We have a lot of guys in there that really care, and we want to we want to do well,” forward James van Riemsdyk said Sunday. “We’re working hard at it. Obviously, we know it’s a results-based thing and we need better results right now. I think if we just stick with our process, stick together as a team and find better results starting tomorrow.”

Scoring has been a big issue for the Flyers. They are averaging 2.32 goals per game, 28th in the NHL, and their power play is 30th (13.4 percent). In their past eight games they’ve been outscored 36-13, allowed 35.3 shots on goal per game and the power play is 2-for-22 (9.1 percent).

They’ve also had numerous injuries. Defenseman Ryan Ellis (lower body) has missed 18 of 19 games and is week to week. Center Kevin Hayes, who had abdominal surgery Sept. 21 and missed the first 12 games of the season, has played four games. Forwards Joel Farabee (shoulder), Derick Brassard (hip) and Nate Thompson (shoulder) are also sidelined.

“That’s just excuses,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said last week. “Injuries or not, whoever is in the lineup, we need to dig in and play better.”

Vigneault was 74-54-19 after he was hired April 15, 2019. The Flyers reached the Eastern Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2020 but did not qualify last season. He’s 722-489-117 with 35 ties in 1,363 regular-season games for the Flyers, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens. He is eighth in NHL history in wins and 13th in games coached. Vigneault won the Jack Adams Award voted as NHL coach of the year in 2007 and has been a runner-up four times (2000, 2011, 2015, 2020). He is 78-77 in 155 playoff games, guiding the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011 and the Rangers in 2014 but losing each time.

Vigneault is the third NHL coach fired this season (Travis Green, Canucks, Dec. 5; Jeremy Colliton, Chicago Blackhawks, Nov. 6). Joel Quenneville resigned as Florida Panthers coach Oct. 28 after being implicated in an independent investigation into the Blackhawks for allegations by former player Kyle Beach of sexual assault by then-video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010.

Yeo was in his third season as Flyers assistant. He’s 246-181-55 in 482 regular-season games, and 17-22 in 39 postseason games as coach of the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.