The Flyers have a third-period problem. If they can’t solve it, their 2026-27 hopes might soon disappear.
Rick Tocchet noted that the team has had trouble attacking pressure in late-game situations.
NEW YORK ― Simon Benoit should have been ecstatic after scoring his first goal since March 2025.
Denver Barkey and Noel Acciari should have been pumped to connect on Acciari’s second goal of the season.
Joseph Woll should have been grinning after collecting what might have become his second win of the season.
Instead, the four players, Travis Sanheim, and coach Rick Tocchet used words like “on our heels,” “frustrating,” and “inexcusable” after the game. Why? The Flyers led 2-1 with six minutes and eight seconds left in regulation. When the final buzzer sounded, they had lost 3-2 to the New York Rangers.
» READ MORE: Flyers let a third-period lead slip away in 3-2 loss to the Rangers; drop to 1-5 in last six games
It was their 14th defeat in 18 games to start the season. The Flyers have not beaten a team from the Metropolitan Division and are back to last place in the Eastern Conference in points percentage (.333). They are third from the bottom of the NHL.
“It’s frustrating because you’re trying to learn how to win under these circumstances, and we failed tonight,” Tocchet said.
“You’ve got to attack pressure; we keep talking about it. I don’t know the answer. When the pressure hits, you want to embrace it. You want the puck. You want to be in situations [where] I want to be the difference maker. Whether it’s a wall play, a blocked shot, a good back check. Those are the moments that we need people to consistently do.”
This has become a norm.
The Flyers led 2-1 in the third against the New Jersey Devils in the second game of the season and lost 3-2 in overtime. The Flyers led 2-1 in the third versus the Carolina Hurricanes the next game, and lost 3-2 in overtime.
In the third period of a tied game, they allowed a late goal to the Senators in Ottawa and the Red Wings in Detroit. Tied 3-3 heading into the third against the Anaheim Ducks, the Flyers lost to the visitors for the first time since the Cutter Gauthier and Jamie Drysdale swap. And while they eventually won 6-3 against the Utah Mammoth, the Flyers led 3-1 in the third and allowed the Mammoth to close within 5-3 with 2:53 left and pushing for the comeback.
Third periods have not been kind to the Flyers this season, and they have been outscored 22-15.
According to Natural Stat Trick, on Thursday against the Rangers, they were held to 40% of the shot attempts in the final frame and 36.06% expected goal share. It followed a first period where the Flyers had 58.82% of the shot attempts and a second period split down the middle.
Why is it not sustainable in the third?
“Not enough guys to continue to stack those good shifts together,” Tocchet said. “That’s really what it comes down to. We need more guys — you can’t just rely on four or five — we need some more guys. That’s how our team’s built; we need the depth from everybody.
“It’s not one guy. It’s a collection of players for us. And like I said, that’s unexcusable.”
The Flyers allowed the Rangers to tie the game on a power-play goal, but the game-winner was an amalgamation of misreads and miscues. It defined where things are right now for the Flyers.
“I think we stopped moving our feet,” Barkey said of the third period. “I think we got on our heels, and we’re just focusing more on keeping the puck out of the net. I think we’re at our best when we’re on our toes, and we’re continuously executing our game plan for 60 minutes. And I think we just got away from that tonight in the third.”
The issue is that the Flyers have played well in several games this season for at least 40 minutes but then fall apart in the third when opponents make a push.
“You watch around the league, a team that’s down is going to push in the third period; they’re probably going to be the better team in the third. So that’s where we got to find a way to keep it simple, not turn over pucks and give them chances that they don’t deserve,” said Sanheim.
“And we didn’t do that. We gave them some looks, and then they get a power play and capitalize and make us pay. So, we’ve got to learn from these lessons and take a lot of the positives that we did do well, especially that second period where we pushed and generated and had some really good looks.
“We just got to continue to keep working at our game and hope that the process will translate into some success here.”
Time is ticking on the season, however, with 66 games left.
