Flyers fail the first test, and other takeaways from a lopsided loss to the Maple Leafs

In American Gladiators, contestants run the gauntlet.

On the show, it’s a 45-foot-long battledome with five gladiators protecting each zone. The Flyers’ gauntlet right now is seven sections. They went through one on Thursday night and were handed a 6-2 beating by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The good news for the Flyers is that the Islanders also lost, 4-0 to the Buffalo Sabres, as did the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 to the Arizona Coyotes. The Islanders remain four points back of the Flyers with two games in hand, and are tied with the Red Wings for the final playoff spot.

Here are three takeaways from the Flyers’ loss.

The first period was a shellacking, with the Maple Leafs holding 56.41% of the shot attempts, including 11 high-danger chances, at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Granted, you didn’t need analytics to tell you the visiting team was the better squad in the first 20; Toronto scored three goals, plus another that was called back because of a hand pass.

» READ MORE: Flyers can’t stop Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs offense in 6-2 blowout loss

“Hopefully, we realize that you can lose the game in the first 10 minutes,” associate coach Brad Shaw said. “I thought we were sort of on our heels long enough to let them establish their game. With all our talk about trying to get to our game first, it just never seemed to materialize.”

Added Sean Couturier: “We were off from the start, not enough guys going. Against a good team like that it’s hard to match up. So definitely need to be better.”

The second period seemed to see things pick up for the Flyers. After being outscored, 3-0, in the first period, they outscored the Maple Leafs, 1-0, in the middle frame and split the shot attempts at all strengths.

Across the 20, the Flyers were able to sustain pressure better. One shift, in particular, was a clinic on effective switching between a winger, in this case Owen Tippett, and a defenseman, Marc Staal. The two looked to be communicating well in terms of who would take the puck, who would provide the puck support along the wall, and who would drop high or low. The puck possession by the Flyers led to a tripping call on Bobby McMann.

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“There were stretches in the second where I really liked our game,” Shaw said. “Got to the blue paint, did the little things well, really put pressure on and created turnovers, and drove the pace of the play. Just have to do it more often. We got to get more guys on that side of the ledger. And positive things will happen.”

But then in the third, the wheels fell off again and the Leafs scored three, including two within eight seconds. For the record, one was by Auston Matthews — his eye-popping 55th in 64 games this season.

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“I think one of our strengths this year has been our resilience mentally when a bad thing happened or a goal goes in the net,” Shaw said. “[We] seem to be able to weather the storm and gather ourselves and get back on the attack. For whatever reason, they put another one in the net right away and it just feels like a bit of a tsunami coming at you. We’ve done such a good job of staying away from those scenarios previously throughout the year. And I have no explanation for it.”

The one positive was the power play. Less than 24 hours after assistant coach Rocky Thompson said it “stinks,” the Flyers scored a power-play goal for the second straight game. It’s the first time since mid-February they have scored in consecutive games.

It may have involved a bit of a lucky bounce as Morgan Frost’s shot went wide and bounced off the end boards right to Tippett for the strike.

The penalty kill was also active, going 4-for-4 against the No. 2 power play in the NHL. In fact, it was a power kill as Tyson Foerster notched a shorthanded goal — the first of his NHL career — in the third period.

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“He’s a young player that’s really displayed a real desire to work on the defensive side of the game,” said Shaw who runs the penalty kill. “And so we’ve talked to him for weeks now, ‘Hey, you’re going to get a chance. You’re going to get a chance.’

“At that point in that game, it’s easy to put him out there. And it’s a great experience and for him to put it in the net, that’s great for him, happy for him. But in the future, he’s going to be a penalty killer and a big part of how we go forward with our penalty kill.”

There were two big messages after the game.

One was that the team must start digging deep as the heat gets turned up with teams looking to solidify their playoff positioning.

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“At this time of year, you got to be ready to play, you can’t just go out there and put your stick on the ice and hope for the best,” Scott Laughton said. “... Everyone’s got to look in the mirror here and figure out what we need to do collectively as a group here to get better because that’s, especially on home ice, just not good enough. It’s not hard enough. It’s not good enough.”

Added Couturier: “We’re definitely not playing the way we’ve been playing all year, the last couple of games. So, something we need to address. And I heard Laughty say, ‘Look at ourselves in the mirror,’ and to bring our best game because it’s that time of the year where we need everyone to step up and be at their best.”

The second message was that this Flyers team has been able to put big losses behind it quickly, and it’s something the Flyers must do as they ship up to Boston to face a Bruins team that beat them, 6-2, right before the All-Star break. As Couturier said, whether it’s 7-0, like against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, or a 2-1 loss, a loss is a loss and you need to move on.

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“Yeah, it’s not easy. It’s not going to get easier,” added Laughton. “We go into Boston, [then] we get home and play against Toronto, and we’ve got the same thing. So we got to figure it out here. Take care of yourself. Get ready for the next one. It’s not getting easier, so we’re going to have to play a simple, simple, disgusting road game and squeak one out there. But tonight’s not good enough and everyone’s got to look in the mirror tonight and see what’s going on.”

Head coach John Tortorella will be back on the bench Saturday after serving his two-game suspension.