The Philadelphia Flyers managed to snag a single point on Thursday night in New Jersey, but let’s be real, they were lucky as heck. Joseph Woll in net basically stole that point for them, covering up what was another rough outing. The effort was “better” than Wednesday, but when the bar is on the floor after a historic beatdown in your home opener against the Penguins, “better” doesn’t mean much.
Same Old Story: Shot After Shot, No Answers
Think about it: after getting outshot a ridiculous 38-19 by the Penguins, the Flyers were right back in their own zone against the Devils, giving up 44 shots on goal. Forty-four! What are we even doing out there? It wasn’t just the shots, either. We saw turnover after turnover, failed clears that let the Devils just reload in the offensive zone like it was a power play drill. When the Flyers did get the puck out, all they could manage was a dump-in, just to get a fresh line on the ice. Seriously, it was rare to see them get more than a one-and-done chance, let alone establish any real offensive pressure. Yeah, training camp was short, but that’s not an excuse anymore, not two games in.
Coach Tocchet Is Looking for Answers, And Finding None
This is the kicker, folks. Rick Tocchet and the coaching staff are scrambling. After Thursday’s loss, Tocchet himself admitted, “I have no idea. We just talked as coaches; we’re going to have to change some practices. We need more skill work. Unfortunately, we’ve only had five or six practices, but I don’t know. I don’t know. We are choppy with the puck. I agree.” “I have no idea” from the head coach after two games? That’s a gut punch. He went on to say, “We chipped away, got the point, but we got a lot of work to do. We have to up our skill level. We got to make some plays. Deception. Stepping inside. Things like that, offensively. And some guys are squeezing it, too. It’s only our second game. I don’t know why we’re squeezing it. We got to relax.” You hear that? “Squeezing it.” That’s classic early season panic, and it’s not a good sign.
The players know it, too. Christian Dvorak called it right after the overtime loss, “I wish I knew the answer. We’ve been leaving our goalies out to dry these first two games. We just got to execute better, maybe just play simple hockey, and we could just build from there. We just got to be better, myself included; we all got to be better.” It sounds like they’re trying to figure out new systems on the fly, and it’s showing. They looked unprepared Wednesday, and only marginally better Thursday. It’s a mess, and everyone’s searching for solutions right now.
With the early season jitters clearly a factor, and the coaching staff admitting they’re stumped, the Flyers have some serious work ahead. Hopefully, they figure out how to relax and execute before this becomes a trend.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Broad Street Hockey.
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