PHILADELPHIA – Yesterday’s game was his 72nd of the season, second most in his career to the 73 he played six seasons ago when the future seemed unlimited.

And yet, Eric Lindros is finding it very difficult to take much satisfaction in his first year on Broadway, one that ended yesterday with him still standing – and standing tall, at that.

“It’s very difficult to talk about personal feelings with us out of the playoffs,” No. 88 said after the Ranger season ended with a 2-1 loss to the division-clinching Flyers that would have been by landslide proportions if not for the heroics of Dan Blackburn. “Making the playoffs was the major goal laid out for us, and we didn’t achieve it.

“It colors everything.”

Still, when prodded, Lindros did admit certain satisfaction in his season after the famous and enforced 16-month absence from the NHL. And why not? Lindros, his team’s best and most indispensable player, finished with a team-leading 37 goals (tied for eighth in the NHL) and 73 points, and as one of only seven players in the league to play at least 70 games with an average of at least a point per.

“I knew I could play; I never had any doubts,” Lindros told The Post. “But after staying out for as long as I did, there’s no question that I struggled with my timing at different points of the year.

“There were points during the season where I wasn’t as confident as I would like to have been in terms of how I felt physically. It took time for my body to become used to the grind again – and it is a grind.

“But coming through the year the way I did, there’s no question that I’ll go into next year with a lot more confidence.”

Despite missing just 10 games as a result of four injuries – two to the knee; the Dec. 28 concussion in San Jose, the seventh of his career; a bruised foot – it took Lindros time after each to regain his form.

“First of all, the concussion was very mild – and that came on a hit I initiated. The second knee injury came on a hit I initiated. So I do have certain control,” said Lindros, who underwent acupuncture and cranial sacrum therapy throughout the year and who intends to continue therapy over the summer. “As the year went on, I became smarter about when to hit and when not to hit; I learned how to use momentum instead of just smashing people.

“I used to be able not to have to use common sense in that part of the game. That was never a concern for me before. Now I have to think about it.

“Now I have to pick my spots. It’s different.”

Asked if he misses the old days when he could just drill guys, consequences be damned, Lindros smiled.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I miss it.”

*

The Rangers were out- shot 16-2 in the first 26:30, 26-7 in the first 38:00, 45-19 for the match. “I don’t think we worked nearly hard enough,” Ron Low said. “I feel for the kid in net. Danny really didn’t deserve that.”

Low, whose contract has expired and who will be replaced for next season, declined to discuss his feelings. “My emotions right now don’t really matter a heck of a lot,” he said. “Regrets? Yes, but I won’t tell you what they are today.”

Blueshirts finished the season with 80 points, an eight-point improvement, but were 14-24-1-2 after Dec. 30. “We were terrible the second half,” Low said. The team finished 29th in goals-against and 30th in penalty-killing . . . Break-up meetings are scheduled for today.