Flyers Collapse Late Against Mammoth, Tocchet Calls for Grit After Costly Penalty
The Philadelphia Flyers were in control - until they weren’t. With a 4-2 lead and just over eight minutes left in regulation, they looked poised to skate away with a win.
Instead, they unraveled under pressure, allowing the Utah Mammoth to claw their way back, tie the game, and eventually win it in overtime. It was a gut-punch of a loss, and head coach Rick Tocchet didn’t mince words afterward.
Let’s break it down.
The turning point came when Utah’s Jack McBain delivered a heavy hit on Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale along the boards. It was the kind of hit that gets a reaction, and Flyers blueliner Noah Juulsen didn’t hesitate.
He dropped the gloves in defense of his teammate. But the fight didn’t go Juulsen’s way - and worse, it earned him a two-minute minor for roughing.
That gave the Mammoth a power play, and they didn’t waste it. Barret Hayton scored on the man advantage, cutting the lead to one and shifting the momentum squarely in Utah’s favor.
From there, the wheels came off.
The Mammoth kept pressing, and the Flyers couldn’t respond. The equalizer came not long after, and by the time the overtime winner hit the back of the net, the Flyers were left stunned. What should’ve been a statement win turned into a collapse that raised more questions than answers.
Tocchet, clearly frustrated, addressed the pivotal moment postgame.
“I love Juulsen, but take a punch in the mouth,” Tocchet said. “You got to win the game. You can’t take a penalty there.”
It was a revealing quote - not because it was harsh, but because it spoke to the mindset Tocchet wants from his team. He wasn’t criticizing Juulsen’s heart or willingness to stand up for a teammate.
He was pointing to the bigger picture: the need for discipline in critical moments. In Tocchet’s eyes, the Flyers needed to absorb the hit, stay focused, and close out the game.
Instead, they let emotion take over, and it cost them.
Tocchet continued: “We sunk in pressure situations, something that we’ve got to get out of this team, right? You got to rise to the occasion.
You got to want to be out there in pressure situations. A couple of guys sunk in certain situations - that’s the bottom line.”
It’s hard to argue with him. The numbers tell a story of a team that folded down the stretch.
In the third period alone, Utah out-attempted Philadelphia 23-13 and outshot them 9-5. The Mammoth turned up the heat, and the Flyers didn’t have an answer.
This wasn’t just a tough loss - it was a revealing one. The Flyers showed flashes of the team they want to be, building a multi-goal lead and controlling large stretches of the game.
But when the pressure mounted, they didn’t respond with poise. They responded with panic.
And that’s what Tocchet is trying to fix.
This isn’t about one penalty or one fight. It’s about a team learning how to manage the moment when it matters most.
The Flyers have talent, no doubt. But championship teams don’t just rely on talent - they rely on composure, structure, and trust in the system when the game gets tight.
Wednesday night, the Flyers lost more than just a point in the standings. They lost a chance to prove they can close.
They’ll get more chances, but as Tocchet made clear, the margin for error in this league is razor-thin. One bad penalty, one missed assignment, one moment of lost focus - and it’s the difference between two points and a long flight home wondering what went wrong.
The good news? It’s January.
There’s time to course-correct. But if the Flyers want to be taken seriously in the playoff hunt, they’ll need to show they can handle the heat when the game is on the line - not just when they’re up two goals with a cushion.
This one will sting. But how they respond will say a lot more than how they lost.