John Tortorella Challenges Young Flyers Stars to Play Harder

Twelve games into the season, the Philadelphia Flyers have a record of 4-7-1, currently the worst in the Eastern Conference by tiebreaker. Making matters worse for head coach John Tortorella is the fact that two once-blossoming Flyers stars, Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster, have a combined three goals in 51 shots on goal.

When you consider that two of the Flyers’ top-six wingers have been net negatives in the offensive zone, whether it be even strength, power play, or otherwise, it is not exactly a surprise to see that Philadelphia ranks 29th in the NHL with 2.50 goals per game.

And it’s not just that Tippett, Foerster, and the Flyers aren’t finishing chances and scoring. They aren’t shooting much, either. A big reason for that, according to Tortorella, is that the Flyers do not support each other at all in the offensive zone.

That results in a lot of one-and-dones, turnovers, and hardly any puck possession time. Through 12 games, the Flyers rank 30th in the NHL in shots on goal per game, averaging just 25.7.

“The biggest thing is, we don’t have the puck,” Tortorella assessed after practice on Monday. “I think we have improved defensively around our goalie because we’re getting a lot of practice in the games. We’re just there too often. For Tyson and Tipp, for them to get their games back, they have to be stronger on the puck.

“Remember, Tyson struggled last year scoring goals. And he was here because he had one of the heaviest, strongest sticks I’ve seen out of a young kid. I coached a guy in Panarin, who has probably one of the best… the strength of his hands and sticks are one of the best in the league. I compared Tyson to him last year, I think I remember. Haven’t seen it. Haven’t seen it out of Tipp.

“They’re not scoring goals, which we dearly need, but I look at why. I look further back (at) what’s going on in their games, and the concentration and, quite honestly, the hardness of playing in those areas, protecting pucks, and winning battles is not there.”

Frustration showing on tape for Flyers?

It has started to become apparent that, when the Flyers are losing and continually dump the puck in and lose possession, players start trying to attack 1-on-1.

Owen Tippett tries power and skill moves more than most, as does Travis Konecny. Tyson Foerster and Matvei Michkov both have between-the-legs dekes they like to try with a defender at their hips. The numbers don’t lie: that hasn’t worked.

For Tortorella, it’s about playing with structure.

“When you end up 1-on-1 is where you lack support,” Tortorella said. “We talked about that the other night. I don’t think we’re close enough to the puck, entering and sustaining the forecheck. Defensively, I think we’re dead-on being close to the puck. We’re filling the middle of the ice. If the puck’s in the corner, we’re all there.

“Totally opposite in the offensive zone. We’re too spread (out). We’re just not close enough to make little area plays, so you don’t have to worry about putting it through a stick and it gets knocked down. You can put it into an area and a guy can skate on it. That’s on entries and in the forecheck.”

One struggling player Tortorella’s assessments might also apply to is center Morgan Frost, who has yet to score a goal in his 12 games this season.

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Frost, 25, does have five assists, but has zero goals and a minus-11 plus-minus rating. Now, if Frost had a better impact on the Flyers defensively and had the same amount of goals as he had assists, the dialogue around both him and the team could be completely different.

Frost almost had a wraparound goal against Washington on Oct. 23 and put it off Charlie Lindgren’s skate with half of the net to score on. Frost almost had a goal against Boston on a 2-on-1 with Tippett on Saturday, but his one-timer hit the top of Joonas Korpisalo’s arm and stayed out.

Flyers defensemen bear responsibility, too

The opportunities have been there, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Some of the responsibility falls on the Flyers’ defensemen, too.

“We have opportunities to sustain a forecheck and keep the puck in, and I think we’re just a little bit too on our heels. And maybe that’s the losing,” Tortorella posited. “You lose some games and maybe you just get a little bit too careful. We can’t be careful. We’ve got to be more aggressive, we’ve got to be closer, and we’ve got to start banging the walls.

“I don’t think we’re pinching enough. Looking at the tape, why we’re a little shy and not going down the wall, I don’t know.”

Defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Erik Johnson are the only Flyers defenders without a single point at 5-on-5 this season. Even Nick Deslauriers, the team’s enforcer, has one in his 24 total minutes at 5-on-5.

Nick Seeler, the de facto stay-at-home defenseman of the group, actually leads Flyers defensemen in 5-on-5 points with three. That’s more than Drysdale, Cam York, Travis Sanheim, Egor Zamula, and Rasmus Ristolainen.

Simply put, the defenders need to get more involved and support the forwards better. The forwards need to play more as a unit and support each other better. When neither of those things happen, you get the Flyers – 29th in the NHL in scoring and last place in the Eastern Conference.