Flyers bank intensity as John Tortorella calls for them to add fuel to fire for season’s late stretch

When the Flyers took the ice for practice last Wednesday, coach John Tortorella put them through their paces in a grueling practice that lasted well over an hour. But as they sprinted around him, he wasn’t just coaching them through the physical aspect of the game. He was sending a message about the mentality needed to make it through the rest of the season.

The Flyers had just suffered an ugly loss to the New York Islanders, and Tortorella said it was a “reminder” of what’s coming. As the playoffs draw closer, the intensity amps up, and Tortorella wanted to make sure his team was ready.

“We had a couple of things to cover today regarding our last game, where the season is right now and how the game’s played,” he said following practice.

His message left an impact, and the team proceeded to take down the Edmonton Oilers in a gritty shootout win where they limited Connor McDavid, “the best hockey player in the world.”

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“The thing I liked about it is we checked — and I hope we learn from it — is we checked and we kept our patience,” Tortorella said.

But the fire has slowly banked over the weekend as the Flyers lost back-to-back games.

Saturday’s contest against the Nashville Predators was an intense one, with the two teams dropping the gloves and making big hits. The Flyers played tight defense, keeping the Predators’ shots to the outside. But when overtime arrived, they sat back and gave up a goal on a blown coverage in the first 34 seconds.

Sunday’s game was the Flyers’ third game in four days and their second matinee game in a row, leaving Tortorella to wonder if that was why the team seemed slow in a 4-3 loss.

Ultimately, their defense was good enough to keep the Seattle Kraken to just 21 shots. But they also had to block 24 shots after failing to gain possession of the puck. And they let holes open up at inopportune times, leading to four Kraken goals.

“Checking,” Tortorella preaches, yet it seemed like the Flyers barely made an effort to get to loose pucks. When they did try, they were usually strides behind.

The intensity wasn’t there, but it wasn’t the lack of intensity that was the Flyers’ true downfall in the game. It was their lack of speed.

“I just thought they were quicker,” Tortorella said. “I thought they were quicker thinking. After the first few minutes of that first period, we were a step behind all night.”

Coming back from the All Star break, Tortorella commended the Flyers on their performance through a strong January that put them in a place where they can “look up instead of looking behind them.”

“To me, when you’re playing meaningful games at this time of year, it’s exciting,” Tortorella said, referencing the playoff race. “We’re gonna find out about some people when we start playing these games here, in the checking part of it. Because teams are going to ramp that up, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how guys react.”

So far, Tortorella has been shown a very mixed set of results, with the incredibly well-played defense of the Edmonton win, the strong performance in the Nashville loss, and the sluggish effort in the loss to Seattle.

But if he’s looking for more than just information about his players, the past two games have shown his philosophy won’t be enough to get them to the playoffs he keeps mentioning.

Defense and checking are important in the postseason. But they don’t win games. They give teams the chance to win and to be competitive. But speed and skill in the offensive end are needed to get the winning goal. And speed and skill have taken the Flyers down in the last two games.

The Flyers have immediate rematches against the Kraken and the Oilers, both on enemy ice this time. Their defense will most likely keep them in it. But if they want to emerge victorious, the Flyers will need to reignite that offense they were developing in January.

The Flyers have recalled forward Kieffer Bellows and goaltender Samuel Ersson from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League (AHL). In addition, the Flyers have placed forward Zack MacEwen on injured reserve (fractured jaw).