Tuesday’s loss followed an all-too-familiar script for the Flyers, as they came up short again when it mattered most

One hundred and four seconds.

There’s not a lot that can happen in that frame of time. You can cook a minute rice cup, but you cannot make the chicken to go with it. You can sing Happy Birthday a few times; however, you’ll never make it through TSA — PreCheck or not — these days.

But in 1 minute, 44 seconds of the second period, the Columbus Blue Jackets scored a pair of goals and stalled the Flyers’ playoff push with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night. The good vibes from a three-game California sweep and a solid first period were quickly washed away.

One hundred and four seconds.

Does it measure a year? Maybe.

The roller coaster of emotions that tends to crash over the Flyers feels like a never-ending rinse-and-repeat.

» READ MORE: Flyers’ playoff push hits a setback with a 3-2 home loss to the Blue Jackets

Two years ago, almost to the day, they were third in the Metropolitan Division after beating the Boston Bruins. An eight-game nosedive followed, dropping them two points back of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Last year, to the day, the Flyers played their last game under coach John Tortorella. He would be fired two days later, following his comments after the team lost its sixth straight and 11th of 12 games. Entering that slide, the Flyers were just four points out of a wild-card spot with 21 games to play.

Today, the Flyers have won nine of 13. It’s a positive after a dreadful January, but it makes one wonder because, according to neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, it only takes 90 seconds for an emotion to pass.

But does it really?

Because while some may be angry, disgusted, or saddened by the recent past, or hopeful about how this season could turn out, it always feels like the emotions of the last two seasons, of the six seasons since a playoff spot, of the eight years since a playoff game in front of fans, and of the 50 years without a Stanley Cup are still lingering.

It’s not fair to pin all that on this current crop of players, or just one game at home on a Tuesday night that had a quiet crowd to start, despite the game’s magnitude. As alternate captain Travis Konecny said, “It’s not like we were going to win out the rest of the year. … We lost one game against an opponent that was above us. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. Just regroup, that’s all you can do.”

That is all they can do. That’s all they need to do.

“We take care of ourselves and we’ll be on the heels of them,” veteran winger Garnet Hathaway said after the win against the San Jose Sharks, echoing Konecny’s comments from after the game in Los Angeles. “They slip up, we’re right behind them.”

“Still a lot of hockey left,” captain Sean Couturier said. “We still believe in our group, and we’re going to refocus, get ready for the next game, and move on and try to get another winning streak going.”

But with just 12 games remaining, the Flyers are quickly running out of time, and Tuesday felt like a huge missed opportunity.

While the loss wasn’t the proverbial final nail in the coffin, it dropped the Orange and Black five and six points back in the wild card and the division, respectively, albeit with a game in hand in both pathways.

Adding to the frustration was the fact that the Flyers played one of their best first periods in some time and took a deserved 1-0 lead to the dressing room. The lead could have been bigger with Jet Greaves stopping Owen Tippett on a breakaway and Noah Cates on a penalty shot in the opening frame.

And then it all fell apart in the second period with those two goals in 1:44 of game action. The Flyers tried to claw their way back — and almost did courtesy of a Jamie Drysdale marker with the goalie pulled — but there is a reason the Blue Jackets are where they are, having risen from 28th in the NHL to eighth since hiring Rick Bowness.

It was one more reminder that the Flyers are close but need to be closer. That they have taken a step, but not a significant leap forward. It was another night of almosts.

» READ MORE: Flyers mailbag: Is it almost David Jiříček time? And can the Flyers actually make the playoffs?

Things need to change from the past, especially in one critical aspect.

They need to start winning at home. A 3-7-4 record since Jan. 8 at Xfinity Mobile Arena, which started with a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs — the ghost of Scott Laughton? — is just not good enough at this time of year. Especially when six of the 12 games left are at the friendly confines. The players need to bring it, and so do the fans, to help boost the mood.

“Treat it like it’s a road game?” defenseman Travis Sanheim quipped when asked how to get back home-ice advantage. “For whatever reason, when we go on the road, we know it’s going to be a challenging game, and we dig in and play hard and play the right way.

“And sometimes you step on home ice, and you think that you can make that extra play and do something a little bit different, and it’s just hard to win, and you’ve got to play that way, regardless of where you’re playing this season.”

The Flyers can no longer be a team that waits for Matvei Michkov or waits for Porter Martone to fix things. The time is now, whether they make the postseason or not, for this young Flyers group to show it is capable of winning meaningful games, because those are what lie ahead beginning Thursday night against Chicago.

“You can’t take one shift off, one play off at this time of year,” Sanheim said. “It’s playoff hockey for us, and we’ve got to treat it like it is.”