The Flyers wasted a chance to reset, and they did it in a way that has become far too familiar.
Coming off a weekend loss to the Ducks that stung for more than one reason, they had a clean setup in front of them: a back-to-back to open the week, a struggling Blue Jackets team, and enough time to regroup. Instead of using that opening to settle back into the things that had worked for them over the previous week or so, Philadelphia came out flat and dug itself into a hole that was too deep to ignore.
The first period was as rough as anything the Flyers have put on tape this season. Their energy came and went, the puck management was shaky, and the attention to detail was slipping all over the ice. They never found much of a rhythm as a group, and the scoreboard reflected it: three goals allowed, with only two shots on goal generated before the first intermission.
To their credit, the Flyers didn’t fold. They battled back hard in the second and third periods, looked dominant for long stretches, and erased the early damage enough to get back into the game. But once overtime arrived, the wheels came off again, and that wrecked what had otherwise been a strong recovery effort.
“Well it’s [what] we’ve been chasing all year,” head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game, “trying to play 60 minutes. We didn’t do the game plan in the first, we decided to do it [in the second and third], and look at the difference.
Until we get it in our thick heads that we gotta play a certain way… I think our second period, our recovery was 82 percent, because we were doing the right things. So, good comeback, and then obviously overtime was, the decision making in overtime this year has been mind-boggling from some players.
We gotta fix it, quickly.”
That’s the frustration with this team now. The answers aren’t hidden anymore.
The Flyers have shown they can execute the way they want to play, and they’ve done it well enough recently to know it works. The problem is the start-stop nature of it all.
They can reach that level, but too often they can’t get there fast enough or stay there long enough.
“I mean, like I said,” Tocchet went on, “if we… the last week or two, if we all buy-in, we can do it for 60 minutes, you know, we can be a pretty good hockey team, but it’s hard, you know, it’s hard to do for 60 minutes right now for some guys.”
Noah Cates pointed to the same issue from the players’ side. For him, the challenge is staying steady when the game starts swinging around them.
“Yeah, I just think kind of like,” Flyers forward Noah Cates said, “yeah, I was saying the energy, you know, when we’re trying to be positive or something bad goes, something bad happens, you know, you kind of got to be even keel, you know, be positive and, you know, look to you know, generate and do something the next shift. So, yeah, for whatever reason, it seems like our energy is a little little off, our mojo, with, you know, positive or negative things happening to us, you know, it can’t be a poor me mindset. It’s got to be, you know, whether it’s good or bad, you know, let’s get after it the next shift and, you know, turn the tide for for us in our favor.”
That’s the heart of it for the Flyers right now: they’re still fighting to stop letting the game happen to them. They need to be the ones setting the tone, sticking to their structure, and playing with the kind of consistency that turns a comeback into a win.
Tocchet said it plainly when he wrapped up his thoughts.
“Just thought it was gonna be easy,” Tocchet concluded. “Same thing, carryover from a little bit Anaheim.
You know we have to, you gotta support pucks, you gotta hold on to pucks, you gotta [be] willing to go to the net, to crosscheck, and play North. I thought the first period, we were playing so slow, taking it back every time, we’re not a team that can take the puck back, we just can’t do it, some guys think they can but they can’t.
But when we decided to play North, same thing last year, that’s our identity, so gotta keep pounding their heads.”
The good news, if there is any in a night like this, is that the Flyers don’t have to sit with it long. They’re right back at it Wednesday night against the Capitals, another division rival, and another chance to prove the message has actually landed this time.
In Other News...
Flyers Showed Fight But One Familiar Problem Ruined It Again
For a Flyers team trying to keep building on signs of progress, Tuesdays loss in Columbus had the frustrating shape of a game that got away, then nearly came back, then slipped away for good. The Blue Jackets jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first period, and Philadelphia spent the rest of the night digging out of it before falling 4-3 in overtime, with Cam Talbot turning aside 28 shots for Columbus and Dan Vladar making 11 saves for the Flyers.
The rally was enough to make this one feel like two different games, which only sharpened the disappointment once overtime arrived. Philadelphia showed plenty of fight to erase the deficit and force the extra session, but the finish again left the Flyers with the same familiar problem they have been trying to solve: finding a way to turn effort and recovery into points before the night gets decided in the smallest of margins. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Face A Tight Division Test With Little Margin For Error
The Flyers head into Washington with little room to spare in a Metropolitan Division matchup that already feels like an early measuring stick. Both teams have had their share of recent ups and downs, and the setting only adds to the pressure, with each side trying to steady itself in a game where recent form, goalie play and the betting market all point to a tight one.
Philadelphia is also dealing with the usual late-season concerns that can tilt a game of this type, from injury status to the margin for error inside the division. Add in the fact that recent results for both clubs have not left much breathing room, and this looks like the kind of contest where every shift matters and the final score could hinge on one goal either way. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Keep Showing Fight But One Problem Wont Go Away
The Flyers keep finding ways to make games interesting, even if the early hole keeps costing them. In Wednesdays 4-3 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia dug itself out of a 3-0 first-period deficit and forced extra time, another sign that the group has not lost its fight even as it keeps chasing more consistency. Dan Vladar made 11 saves on 15 shots, and the home team at least gave itself a chance after a rough opening frame.
Cam York was back after missing eight games, which was a welcome sight for a blue line that has been dealing with turnover and injury, while Rasmus Ristolainen was out again because of a reinjured left hand. Still, the same issue lingered long enough to matter: Columbus eventually broke through in overtime and left the Flyers with another hard-luck result to sort through as the season keeps grinding forward. [Read more 🡒]