In his past five games, Downie had zero points, was a minus three, and had eight penalty minutes. He was taking too many penalties and wasn't playing defensive hockey.
On Saturday, the Flyers played the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning went up by a score of 3-1, but the Flyers battled back to tie the game at 3-3. Then Downie wasn't in position defensively and the Lightning scored the eventual game-winning goal.
Downie was demoted to fourth line minutes after that by Berube. Tye McGinn, a recent call up by the Flyers, took Downie's place on the third line.
Downie has also been struggling offensively and hasn't scored since Dec. 11, 2013, a span of twelve games. He has had his chances but hasn't been able to put them in the net. His last assist came in a game versus the Washington Capitals on Dec. 17, 2013, a span of nine games.
Downie came over in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche in late October. The Flyers traded forward Max Talbot for him. He was playing on the third line and had good chemistry with Sean Couturier and Matt Read early in the season.
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