The Flyers say the only way to ‘survive’ in the playoff race is by sticking together

NEW YORK — The message is clear: If the Flyers play the way they’ve been playing against the beasts of the East, the wins will come.

“I think it’ll help us find a way to have a better chance of winning games. If we win some games, maybe we get in, and we’re going to have to play that way when we’re in,” coach John Tortorella said. “ … The only way we can survive is playing as a team.”

Playing as a team has been the Flyers’ mantra all season long. It’s how they have been able to persevere. It’s how they have faced the first six games of a seven-game gauntlet — the Flyers wrap it up against the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. on NBCSP) — with a 2-3-1 record. But despite three losses in regulation, the play tells a different story. The Flyers went toe-to-toe with the Boston Bruins before losing, 6-5, on March 16 and outshot the Florida Panthers 33-15 in a 4-1 loss on Sunday.

» READ MORE: How Danny Brière and the Flyers’ new front office are rebuilding trust with an aching fan base

“Well, the thing is, we’re getting down to crunch time here, and obviously, we need the wins. Regardless of what happens, I think the one thing that we want to be able to hang our hats on is that we did all the right things,” winger Travis Konecny said. “We played the right way, we played hard, and we gave ourselves a chance. And I think we’ve been doing that in the last few games here. The results aren’t there, but all you can do is continue to do the same things and you just hope that you start getting results.”

The Flyers next head to Montreal with nine games remaining in the season. Just one game is against a team above them in the standings: the Rangers. In Game 82, the Orange and Black will face off against the Washington Capitals, who are creeping up the standings and are the second wild card in the East. The Caps sit just two points behind the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division — with two games in hand — entering Tuesday’s games.

But while seven of the last nine are against teams out of the postseason hunt — and six against teams in the bottom third of the NHL — the team knows it cannot let up on the gas pedal.

“It was a tough stretch to go through but I think it was a stretch that we needed to get our team to play the way we need to right now,” Konecny said. “And I think we’ve really dialed it in. It’ll be talked about in the room … no matter who we’re playing after this seven-game stretch, it doesn’t matter. … NHL teams are NHL teams for a reason. You can beat anyone on any given night, so the message is going to be the exact same thing.”

Following the Flyers’ loss to the Panthers on Sunday, in which Felix Sandström allowed three goals on 14 shots, Tortorella was asked about his goalie’s performance. He hit the podium, stared at reporters, and didn’t respond before walking off. On Tuesday, he apologized for his actions.

» READ MORE: Good isn’t good enough, and other Flyers takeaways from a loss to the Panthers

“I made a terrible mistake with you guys the other night when you might have asked me about Sandy. My body language was wrong. What I should have said to you was — [and] I tried to communicate with you guys after — he’s trying. Sandy’s trying,” Tortorella said. “Things happened this year that put our goaltending situation into a little bit of a state of flux. Sandy did not deserve that from me. You had a perfect right to ask the question. He did not deserve that from me and it was wrong. So how we go about it with him, we’re just not getting too far ahead. We’re just worried about this game here tonight.”

Tortorella did clarify after his postgame press conference Sunday, through Joe Siville, the team’s vice president of hockey communications, that the netminder is “trying his [butt] off.” Sandström said Tortorella apologized to him on Tuesday.

“I know the team is racing to the playoffs here, so I totally understand the frustration, too,” Sandström said. “The last performance wasn’t what this team needed right now, so I totally understand that, too. I just try to focus every day on finding ways to get better so the next time I get the chance, I can perform way better.”

Sam Ersson will make his first career start at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. … Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale were full participants at morning skate. Seeler has been out since March 4 with a lower-body injury and appeared to have extra padding on his left ankle. Drysdale has been out since Feb. 25 with an upper-body injury.