Wednesday’s collapse marked a new low point for the Flyers: ‘We’ve got to learn how to play winning hockey’
The Flyers squandered leads of 3-0 and 4-2 against Utah, with Garnet Hathaway wasting a golden chance to ice the game with the Mammoth goalie pulled. They've now lost seven of eight.
SALT LAKE CITY ― Standing in the hallway outside the Flyers’ locker room at the Delta Center after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday, Rick Tocchet was the most frustrated and direct he’s been all season after a loss.
“Obviously, we had good parts of it, but that’s unacceptable what happened tonight. So [there’s] really not much to say,” the Flyers coach said.
“I’ve been here [49] games, and there’s some really good stuff,” he added. “But when the pressure hits this team, we’ve got to learn how to play winning hockey.”
» READ MORE: The Flyers waste an early three-goal lead, fall in overtime to the Mammoth
The Flyers had the game on their sticks. Literally.
Garnet Hathaway skated in on an empty net with Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka pulled and nothing standing in his way of making it a two-goal game with 1 minute, 27 seconds left in regulation. Instead, he dallied, got his pocket picked, and never got a shot on goal.
Nick Seeler then had a shot that was blocked by Clayton Keller, the eventual tying- and winning-goal scorer, with 1:16 to go. Travis Konecny had a third chance at the empty net from the right point blocked by Jack McBain with 53 ticks remaining.
Those came after Trevor Zegras had been robbed by the glove of Vejmelka and Owen Tippett nailed the crossbar. Zegras also hit a post with 2:55 left. But those were just missed opportunities to ice the game.
The Flyers also allowed the Mammoth to climb back into a game in which they led 3-0 and 4-2.
Noah Juulsen rushed to defend Jamie Drysdale and got tagged for an extra minor, leading to the 4-3 goal with less than eight minutes to go. “I love Juuls, but take a punch in the mouth,” Tocchet said afterward. “You’ve got to win the game. ... You can’t take a penalty there.”
Then there was veteran defenseman Travis Sanheim getting dog walked by Keller on the tying goal with 35 seconds left, and Konecny losing the puck to Dylan Guenther deep in the Utah zone in the lead-up to Keller’s overtime winner.
The Flyers also could have done with one more timely save along the way from Sam Ersson, who allowed five goals on 27 shots.
As Ersson said, “Obviously, it [stinks], losing this game, but it’s not on one guy, it’s on everybody.”
Tocchet can say that they’ve got to “keep building certain people, and get some of these young guys to understand that and go that direction.” But this was on the veterans.
Regardless, the game is now in the past. Mistakes happen. It’s what one does in response that matters.
“I thought for the most part, we were the better team [and] played some good hockey,” said Christian Dvorak, who scored twice. “Sat back a little bit. It’s a tough loss. It stings, but we can’t let it tread on the next game.”
That next game is Friday against powerhouse Colorado. The Avalanche, who have only five regulation losses all season, are 20-1-4 at Ball Arena.
With the Flyers sitting three points out of a playoff spot at 23-17-9 and with the 16th-best points percentage in the NHL, this is a big game. Leaving a three-game road trip with at least four points out of six across the new Death Valley would not only keep the Flyers in the playoff picture but be a good return considering they entered the week riding a six-game losing streak.
The Flyers need to do what they did well early on against the Mammoth:
They need to play as aggressively as they did in the first period, when Cam York scored after sneaking down from the point to bury a rebound, and Dvorak got behind the defense and scored around a sprawled-out Vejmelka.
The power play scored twice, with Bobby Brink getting one of the goals. The Flyers moved the puck well and created good momentum, but as Tocchet said, “I liked it early, and we did a good job, but then the last one or two, we revert to old style again.” After going 2-for-6 on the power play, the Flyers have moved up from 32 to 30 (15.5%) but will have a tall task against the NHL’s best penalty kill (85.0%).
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The penalty kill was good early on and looked like the unit that went 6-for-7 against the Vegas Golden Knights’ potent power play on Monday. But it came up short in the end, with Guenther given space to put a shot on goal that hit Barrett Hayton to make it 4-3. “You’ve got to come out and block the shot, play aggressively, and we sunk,” Tocchet said. “We let Guenther, one of the best shooters in the league, go and shoot the puck. Obviously, we unraveled, and we’ve got to put the pieces back.” One positive — the Avalanche’s power play, given its immense star power, is surprisingly not clicking much better than the Flyers’ at 16.5%.
Turnovers are going to happen. It’s inevitable when you’re playing in a 200-by-85-foot enclosed space with 10 people typically skating around 20 mph. But the Flyers need to minimize them, especially when facing guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who can turn it into a goal in a heartbeat.
Whether it is Ersson or Dan Vladař returning from his injury in goal, the Flyers need saves. Early on, like he played in Vegas, Ersson was impressive against Utah, playing with confidence as he read the puck well, especially through traffic. The late goals were not entirely his fault, as one was a deflected shot, and the game-winner saw a guy left wide-open in the slot, but the Flyers will need big-time saves against the Avs. Ersson was in net for the Flyers’ 3-2 loss at home to Colorado in December, and let in three goals on 28 shots, with the game-winner coming off a cross-ice pass.