Flyers not getting too low after clunker in Detroit: ‘Got to flush it’

DETROIT — Five days ago, the Flyers moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division — their first time in a playoff spot since January — with a small lead on the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders.

Clinching is the next step. Did anyone think it would be easy?

“That’s the hardest part, you’re getting chased, so you start to get nervous,” coach Rick Tocchet said after Sunday’s win against the Boston Bruins. “...It’s always hard to chase, but when you’re hunted, it’s really hard because you now have three or four teams coming for you.”

» READ MORE: Flyers playoff picture: Updated standings and wild-card chances

The Flyers knew that as they headed into a matchup with a Detroit Red Wings team needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. They probably didn’t expect the Red Wings to put a six-pack up on the scoreboard, although they may have expected a loss, given that it’s been more than two years since the team last won four straight games.

Regardless, the past is in the past, and the Flyers are still in the driver’s seat.

“We worked hard to get to where we are in this spot,” forward Christian Dvorak said after the loss to Detroit. “It’s not the end of the world tonight. We’ve got to learn from it. Move on, and we’ll take the spot we’re in right now.”

Move on. Move forward. That was the message from everyone, from veterans like Dvorak to a teenager playing in his sixth NHL game. “Got to flush it down the toilet,” winger Porter Martone said.

The Flyers have been pretty good at being goldfish and forgetting bad games, especially since the Olympic break. They are 15-5-2 since the season restarted (.674 save percentage) and are 6-1 after a loss during that stretch. They also have only three losses in 13 road games.

“There’s a lot to draw from. We have a great road record ... but,” Tocchet said on Thursday, with some emphasis on the but, “You just got to be careful — plus we got to get our energy level for the next game. It’s on me, too. I thought our discipline was really bad tonight, and you cannot do that in late April. It just cannot be undisciplined."

The vibes were good at practice in Detroit, with a lot of hooting and hollering — none louder than when Cam York made an eye-popping move on his way down from the point to the net. It’s a necessary step after Thursday night’s game felt like a throwback to January, when the Flyers had a .367 points percentage — the lowest of any month by a wide margin. During the darkest days of the season, which actually started with two straight wins, they were shorthanded 49 times, sixth-most in the NHL, and allowed 14 goals, fourth-most (71.4%).

As Dvorak said in Detroit, the penalty kill has been hot and cold lately. It sits at 77.3% for the season, and is 9-for-16 or 56.3% across the previous six games.

“Not pressuring hard enough, and we didn’t get it out a couple times, that’s the two killers in a PK, and then we have a five-on-three [and] we give up a shorthand goal,” Tocchet said about what went wrong against Detroit. The Flyers went 1-for-4 with Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider, and Dylan Larkin finding the back of the net.

Special teams can make or break you, especially at this time of year. The Flyers’ special teams have been pretty broken for most of the season; maybe that’s a plus because it’s not a new phenomenon.

Although the power play has been slightly better since Martone joined the team on March 31 — he has two of their three goals in 19 opportunities — they are dead last in the NHL once again (15.6%) across the season.

It’s a good thing that, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers have the best goals-for percentage in the NHL at five-on-five since Feb. 25 (57.53%). Against Detroit, they had 58.73% of the shot attempts with a whopping 16-3 advantage in the first period; the score was 1-1 after 20.

“Five-on-five, we were the better team, especially early on,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “Just undisciplined penalties that cost us.”

It’s an easy one to scrub from the memory bank, and the Flyers will have to do that. They have one more road game on the schedule, a matchup with the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (7 p.m., NBCSP).

It won’t be easy. Winnipeg, which was 11 points out of the Western Conference playoff picture entering the restart, has a .682 points percentage since and sits three points back of the Los Angeles Kings for the final spot in the West.

“We’ve got to move by it. We control our own destiny,” Tocchet said. “It’s no different when you’re in the playoffs, you lose a game, it’s a war of attrition, right? You’ve got to be ready for the next game, and we’ll be ready.”