Flyers-Hurricanes: Flyers take a 2-1 lead after flurry of early goals

It’s become cliché and coach speak to start a press conference by saying, “We need a good start.”

But given how the Carolina Hurricanes jumped all over the Flyers in the first 10 minutes of Game 1, Rick Tocchet was perfectly within his rights to say it at his pre-game media availability on Monday evening. As the adage goes, you may not be able to win a game in the first 10 minutes, but you can certainly lose one, and that’s exactly what the Flyers did on Saturday night.

How will the Flyers, who have allowed the opponent to score first 54 times in 89 games this season, including playoffs, ensure they start better in Game 2? Rick Tocchet offered an interesting analogy for the Hurricanes’ style of play when asked whether a fast start is even more critical against a team that plays the way Carolina does.

Owen Tippett will miss Game 2 against Carolina, Rick Tocchet confirmed ahead of Monday’s puck drop. He’s a “game-time decision” for Thursday’s Game 3.

Prior to Game 1 Saturday, the Flyers officially announced Tippett was day-to-day with an unspecified injury.

During Sunday's skate, Tippett left the ice with the main group instead of staying on late, as he did during morning skate on Saturday. Tippett frequently missed skates and practices in the first round against Pittsburgh, but did manage to play in every game and logged a goal and an assist in six games.

I once asked Gritty what his Wawa order is because here in Philadelphia, the answer can reveal as much about you as your astrological sign.

“Have you played Wawa Screen Roulette? Eyes closed — tap, tap, tap, complete order,” he wrote back via email.

Just like his natural state, Gritty’s Wawa order was absolute chaos.

Eric Tulsky was raised in West Philadelphia, at 44th and Baltimore. He went to Penn Charter and spent summer nights at the Vet (Section 244), where he cheered on Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton.

His allegiances are a little different now. Tulsky, the general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes (and the son of former Inquirer reporter Rick Tulsky), is no longer a Flyers fan, writing for the blog Broad Street Hockey.

But he still loves the Eagles, Sixers, and Phillies. And every once in a while, when the executive is walking the concourse at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., he slips into his native tongue.

After being dominated by Carolina 3-0 in Game 1 on Saturday night, the Flyers will welcome any good luck or omen possible.

The calendar has obliged, as "May the Fourth" should bode well for a team with a goalie nicknamed “Darth Vladař."

But it's more than just Vladař — May 4 has proved to be a favorable date for the Flyers over the years.

The Flyers need a boost in Game 2, and there’s a good chance the Flyers’ new “Kid Line” could remain intact after skating together beginning late in the second period. The trio of Matvei Michkov, 21, Alex Bump, 22, and Denver Barkey, 21, was on the ice for the third Carolina goal — a bit of a fluky one with Dan Vladař coming out too far — but played more than three minutes together and had three shot attempts to Carolina’s two, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The biggest news on that line is that Barkey is the centerman. The consensus from pundits and outsiders has been that he’s too small to be an NHL center, now listed at a hearty 5-foot-10; however, coach Rick Tocchet said after Game 1 that he liked Barkey as the pivot, calling him “effective.”

“You’ve got to look at, if you’re stuck down low, can you muck it and grind it? Can you outmuscle these bigger centermen? ... But I haven’t seen that [from him]. ... I didn’t see him get hemmed [in],” Tocchet said on Sunday.

The Flyers knew a storm front was coming, but they were unable to batten down the hatches and respond.

Facing a Carolina Hurricanes squad built for a Stanley Cup run, the Flyers got run over from the moment the puck dropped and faced a two-goal hole in the first 10 minutes before the home team eventually won 3-0.

In the regular season, the Flyers were shut out three times; however, twice they bounced back with victories — the lone time they didn’t rebound was after a 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders during their January swoon. It ranked as the fourth-fewest shutouts in the NHL.

If there is a silver lining from the Carolina Hurricanes' dominant Game 1 win, it’s that the Flyers made productive adjustments as the game went on. They did a better job of creating offensive opportunities off the rush and keeping the Hurricanes to the perimeter.

Afterward, the players acknowledged that if there is a way to respond in Monday’s Game 2, it’s going to have to involve disrupting the rhythm and speed that Carolina is known for.

“I feel like [the first step is] just kind of playing like the last half of the game, getting in on the forecheck, holding onto pucks a little bit better,” said Noah Cates. “So, obviously, we knew they were coming, and they’ll come hard in that Game 2, but we’ve got to weather the storm a little quicker, get to our game a little quicker, and do that for more of a 60-minute effort.”

RALEIGH, N.C. ― Owen Tippett skated during the Flyers’ optional skate on Sunday after missing the team’s Game 1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Flyers didn’t run line rushes, and Tippett left the ice with the main group instead of staying on late, as he did on Saturday, so it’s not yet clear whether Tippett will return to the lineup on Monday or miss his second consecutive game with the undisclosed injury.

Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said his status was “the same thing, day-to-day” on Sunday, meaning that Tippett is likely to be a game-time decision for Monday’s Game 2 (7 p.m., ESPN). Tippett frequently missed skates and practices during the Flyers’ first-round series against the Penguins, but managed to play in all six games.

Tonight's Game 2 between the Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes will air on ESPN at 7 p.m., and hopefully the jump back to cable TV will help Philly turn things around.

Back calling Game 2 is Mike Monaco alongside analyst Ray Ferraro. Emily Kaplan will report from the Lenovo Center.

While NBC Sports Philadelphia isn't broadcasting the second round of the playoffs, the network will air Flyers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m., featuring Ashlyn Sullivan, Scott Hartnell, and former 94.1 WIP host Al Morganti. The trio will return for postgame coverage.