The Flyers have spent a good chunk of this season learning the hard way that overtime can bury a team in the standings.
Before Saturday night’s game at Columbus, they were 0-6 in overtime and shootouts, a brutal stretch that helped leave them at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division at 5-10-6. The issue has become a clear focus for Rick Tocchet’s club, especially with three-on-three play deciding so many of these games.
That lesson was on display Wednesday in Edmonton. When the game pushed past regulation, the Oilers wasted almost no time, scoring in less than a minute to finish it off. Tocchet said the Flyers know exactly what has to improve when the extra session begins.
“At the start of the (overtime), you’re looking for someone to win a draw,” Tocchet said. “That’s the most important thing. If you lose a draw that’s tough.
“It’s fast-paced, the three-on-three. If you look, I think 60 percent of overtime goals are defending the puck in your transition. That’s a big number.”
For Tocchet, the solution is about balance. He wants his team moving hard in both directions, not just chasing offense.
“You can’t just go out there and think score all the time,” he said, “because you have to defend. We’re just looking for some chemistry.”
Even with the loss, Tocchet came away encouraged by how the Flyers handled Edmonton.
“Probably team-wise our best game,” Tocchet said. “You know when you have two world-class players (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl), I thought we did a good job against them. I thought we played a really good hockey game.
“It’s actually like (the rest of) November. If you look at our numbers, we’ve improved in every category. We know October wasn’t very good but November, the numbers are coming.”
That improvement has shown up in the results since the Flyers stumbled through an 0-6-3 start. They entered the Columbus game having gone 5-4-3 since then, a stretch Tocchet said reflects a more connected team.
“We’re playing a team game and Edmonton was more of an identity game for us,” Tocchet said. “Can we follow up? That’s the key.”
Porter Martone is another player Tocchet sees trending in the right direction. Martone finished last season as one of the team’s most productive players, but his start this year was rocky before he began settling in.
“I think if you look at his game the last three or four weeks, he’s really improved from the start of the year,” Tocchet said. “He looks a lot faster on the ice.
“At the start of this year, it wasn’t great, a little disorganized for all of us. It’s hard for a young guy.
He’s 19 years old. A lot of expectations.
(Recently) He’s asked a lot of questions, he’s spent a lot of time (doing that).”
The numbers around the Flyers show some of that progress, even if the overtime problem still hangs over them. They were 28-14-8 against the Eastern Conference last year, but going into Columbus they were just 2-8-3 this season.
They had also scored 10 power-play goals in their previous 12 games, good for a 26.3 percent success rate. Sean Couturier had climbed to sixth in the NHL in faceoff percentage at 58.9 percent, while Nick Seeler ranked third in the league with 50 blocked shots.
As a team, the Flyers were second with 329 blocks.
The schedule kept moving quickly, too, with the Flyers set to return home to face the Oilers on Sunday night in the second meeting between the teams in five days.
In Other News...
Flyers Just Turned Up The Pressure On Rick Tocchet
The Flyers are suddenly dealing with more than just the usual early-season scrutiny, because Danny Briere has now publicly weighed in on the noise surrounding Matvei Michkov and his reported desire to leave the team. Brieres comments also put a spotlight on the relationship between Michkov and Rick Tocchet, a pairing that has become part of the larger conversation around where this season is headed and how quickly the organization expects progress.
For Tocchet, the message from the front office sounds a lot like a challenge and a deadline rolled into one. Briere made clear he expects the coach to find answers and get the team moving in the right direction, which is the kind of public pressure that tends to follow a team when results are lagging. Even without anything being spelled out, the tone of those remarks suggests the Flyers are watching closely, and Tocchets margin for patience may not be as wide as it once seemed. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Could Hand Mat Barzal The Finisher Hes Been Missing
Matvei Michkovs name has quickly become part of the bigger conversation around the Flyers uneven start, and not just because of what he can do on the ice. Philadelphia has already dealt with a rough opening to the season and growing scrutiny around Rick Tocchet, and now the 2023 seventh overall pick is being discussed in a far more uneasy context, with reports suggesting uncertainty about whether he wants to keep his career going in Philadelphia. For a team that drafted him as a cornerstone talent, that kind of noise only adds to the pressure around everything else going on.
The Islanders, meanwhile, have been floated as a possible landing spot in the kind of speculative scenario that gets attention because of fit as much as talent. Michkovs skill set would naturally invite questions about how he would mesh with New Yorks roster and coaching structure, especially if the Flyers decide his situation has become too complicated to manage. For now, it remains a possibility rather than a move, but it is the sort of storyline that can linger when a young player, a frustrated team and a division rival all enter the same conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Have Two Personnel Developments Fans Will Want To Watch
Noel Acciari was back in full practice participation after an upper-body injury, a welcome development for a Flyers group that has been managing its share of bumps and bruises. For a team trying to keep its forward depth intact, getting a veteran role player back on the ice is the kind of update that matters even before the lineup card is finalized.
There was also a notable off-ice development for the organization, with prospect Brek Liske committing to the University of Wisconsin for next season. For the Flyers, it adds another name to keep track of in the pipeline, while the broader injury picture around the league continues to shift with several players nearing returns and others still working back from longer-term issues. [Read more 🡒]