Flyers’ ‘character and passion’ will be tested after falling flat in 6-2 home loss to Rangers

Oh well.

Despite having the Eastern Conference’s worst team, the New York Rangers, at Xfinity Mobile Arena, and riding high after a shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the Flyers were trounced 6-2.

“You can’t be nervous. You’ve got to trust your instincts. Some guys had the hot potato going. Like, just relax,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “ … And you’re going to get games like this where you get kicked in the teeth, and this is where your character and passion and all that stuff is going to be tested.”

Matvei Michkov scored the Flyers’ first goal on a power play in the second period to cut into the Rangers’ 3-0 lead. Travis Konecny — who returned after missing three games with an upper-body injury — had his shot tipped on goal by Owen Tippett, and Michkov made a heads-up play to tap the long rebound back to the point for the reset.

» READ MORE: Flyers Travis Konecny and Nick Seeler were back in the lineup on Monday

A few seconds later, Trevor Zegras set up Jamie Drysdale for a point shot that bounced its way to the front. Michkov, standing at his usual spot at the right post, swooped in and tucked the puck in around the pipe. Michkov now has 16 goals and 33 points in 62 games, including three goals and four points in the seven games since the Olympic break.

Sean Couturier made it 6-2 late in the third period with his seventh goal of the season. The Flyers had some offensive zone pressure, and Cam York passed it deep to Luke Glendening along the end boards. He chipped it over to Nikita Grebenkin, who sent a quick backhand pass out to Couturier in front for the goal.

It was Couturier’s second goal in the past 36 games and Glendening’s first point with the Flyers after being claimed off waivers from the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

“I was specifically looking at the forwards, we were working hard,” Tocchet said. “I thought they were trying. We got some shots tonight and delivered some pucks to the net. I still think we need a little more traffic, but I saw some effort from guys. I did.

“I just didn’t like the D-zone coverage.”

The Flyers’ defense struggled all night, especially around the crease and in the middle of the ice. It eventually chased Dan Vladař out of the game after he allowed six goals on 24 shots across two periods. Sam Ersson came in and saved the three shots he faced.

“[Vladař’s] battled hard all year for us. Won us big games,” Couturier said. “And yeah, we [squandered] away a game here at night in front of him and didn’t help him at all. We were just awful.”

Flyers killer Mika Zibanejad scored twice and had an assist to up his totals to 25 goals and 49 points in 52 career games against the Orange and Black.

On his first goal that put New York up 2-0, the Rangers sent the puck up the ice from their own end, which Drysdale tried to corral along the boards. But New York’s Gabe Perreault was on him, and the rookie laid a hit on the defenseman behind the Flyers’ net. Alexis Lafrenière got the puck and sent a quick pass in front to Zibanejad as he crashed the net while all five Flyers on the ice were watching the puck.

» READ MORE: Alex Bump’s inner circle and inner belief have fueled his fast rise with the Flyers

Zibanejad also scored a power-play goal off a no-look behind-the-back pass by Perreault that went through defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen in the second period. It is his 14th with the man advantage against Philly, and he gave the Rangers a 5-1 lead.

New York had taken a 1-0 lead 1 minute, 4 seconds into the game on a goal by Noah Laba after it controlled the boards and cycled low on the right before rotating the puck to the left. Matthew Robertson put a high shot on goal that Vladař tried to catch, but he couldn’t snag it cleanly, and it hit off a body in front. Laba was atop the crease with Drysdale and got his stick loose in front for the tap in.

Lafrenière made it 3-0 with 37 seconds left in the opening frame. Vincent Trocheck put a shot on from the inside hash marks of the right circle that seemed to handcuff Vladař, sending the rebound to the left corner. As the Flyers’ defensive scheme fell apart, Zibanejad tracked the puck down and set up Lafrenière just above the slot for the quick shot off the pass.

“Tonight, especially, we gave up three goals in the first [and] this time of the year, it’s tough to get back. I don’t care who you’re playing,” Couturier said. “Yeah, it was a bad effort.”

Perreault scored his own power-play goal when Trocheck walked in for a shot on goal, and the rookie knocked in the rebound to make it 4-1.

The Flyers’ penalty kill entered the night as the best in the NHL since Jan. 28 (88.5%) but allowed three power-play goals on four opportunities.

Twenty seconds after Zibanejad scored his second, Ty Kartye made it 6-1 after a Nick Seeler giveaway on a stretch pass. The Rangers got to work, and eventually Vladislav Gavrikov’s point shot was deflected in by Kartye as he cut through the slot.

“I don’t think it was an energy thing, I think it was a focus thing,” Seeler said. “I think the majority of you guys are playing the right way at this time of year. And it takes everyone, to be honest with you. … Vladdy deserved better. Erss deserved better. Fans deserve better than that. So everyone’s got to get on the same page.”

Seeler returned from a lower-body injury he sustained a week ago in Toronto. “I don’t like watching, so it’s nice to get out there,” he said. … Tippett used his speed to get behind the defense and almost beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin early in the second period. … The Flyers put 34 shots on goal, including 13 in each of the final two periods, after having only 16 total against the Utah Mammoth on Thursday and 15 against Pittsburgh. … In his second career game, Alex Bump had four shots on goal, tying Seeler for the team lead. … It is the third time this year the Flyers have allowed three power-play goals in a game. The other two times came against the Penguins in December and January.

The Flyers host Alex Ovechkin on Wednesday in what could be his last game in Philly when they face the Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max).