The Philadelphia Flyers (14-13-4) skated for the second time at Flyers Training Center following their most recent outing, a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild (20-7-4) on Saturday night in St. Paul, Minnesota. Philly scraps with the Detroit Red Wings (12-14-4) at Little Caesars Arena in a nationally televised battle on TNT tomorrow at 7 pm EST. Philadelphia has a busy week on tap, with four games over the next six days.
John Tortorella Felt Flyers Played Well Despite Loss in Minnesota
One of the more critical takeaways from John Tortorella’s post-practice media session was the coaches’ feelings when reviewing the 4-1 loss in Minnesota earlier on Saturday. “Watching the tape, we played really good against Minnesota,” the veteran NHL bench boss claimed. “Their top guy scored, and ours didn’t. That was the difference in the game. We actually had more chances and more quality chances.” Defenseman Travis Sanheim was Philly’s lone goal scorer over the weekend.
Minnesota’s leading scorer, Kirill Kaprizov, scored his 19th goal in the first period and added his 20th via an empty net to finish the scoring in the Wild win. Kaprizov is 2nd in the NHL scoring race after 30 games with 22 goals, only one short of Edmonton’s. Leon Draisaitl’s leading mark (23). The other major factor in the Minnesota victory was the play of Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who stopped 21-of-22 shots on goal. Known around hockey as “Flower,” Fleury has been a thorn in the Flyers’ side for two decades, with 33 victories against Philadelphia in his 21-year-old NHL career.
Tortorella is hopeful that the unsuccessful result over the weekend does not disrupt the confidence of his hockey club moving forward, as those games are critical points in the standings. There is only a 3-point difference between 4th place and last place in the Metropolitan division. “These times before the holidays,’ the Flyers coach started. “I think they are really important points for the end of the year. We need to grab as many points as we can before we have that Christmas break. We’ve got four games in six nights here. It’s a tough schedule.”
The contest against Detroit could be a swing point in the season for Philly. With a win, the Flyers can feel good heading into the holidays with 3 victories in their last 4 games. The narrative is not as kind with a loss – 5 defeats in their last 7 outings dating back to the start of December. If Philadelphia desires to make a postseason push this year, they need to dispatch the .sub 500 teams like Detroit, Columbus, and Pittsburgh when they encounter them in the schedule.
Familiar Formula for Flyers vs. Detroit
The Flyers took care of business last Thursday night with a 4-1 home win against the Red Wings. Flyers goalie Aleksei Kolosov claimed the win after stopping 25-of-26 shots. Flyers forward Scott Laughton scored all four goals for Philadelphia in the victory. Laughton suggested a similar playbook tomorrow night in Detroit. “Keep them on the perimeter,” the 30-year-old Flyers forward said. “Less high-danger scoring chances. Give our goalies a chance to see the puck.”
While the playbook may be familiar, it is simply the message Tortorella preaches to his players overall. When asked if there is an advantage to having just played against Detroit, the Flyers coach did not see it. “Nope, not for me,” Tortorella said, having just played the Red Wings. “Maybe for the players. I don’t overthink that because I am not spending too much time talking about the other team anyway. It’s basically our execution.”
Philadelphia will look to execute their gameplan in Detroit tonight before hosting the Los Angeles Kings (18-9-3) for a 7:30 pm EST faceoff at Wells Fargo Center in South Philly on Thursday.
Related: 3 biggest questions facing the Flyers after a rollercoaster start to the season
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
