Flyers believe previous adversity will aid their playoff push: ‘What stands in the way becomes the way’

It’s a word used consistently in hockey but one John Tortorella cannot stand.

No, not culture — although that is on his list, too. The word is adversity.

It’s a noun that means difficulties or misfortunes.

“Especially where we’re at? I think it’s perfect because you find out [about your team],” said the Flyers coach. “More responsibility comes into play. It gives us an opportunity to see how certain guys react, and we’re still evaluating as we keep on moving forward with this process. Especially where we’re at here right now. So I look at it as a great opportunity for them and the coaching staff to try to find your way.”

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Like all teams, the Flyers have had plenty of adversity this season, whether through blowout losses, losing streaks, injuries, losing their No. 1 goalie to sexual assault charges, trap-game losses, and now their head coach having to watch from somewhere other than the bench.

Tortorella will begin serving his two-game suspension on Tuesday when the San Jose Sharks visit the Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m., NBCSP). The fiery coach on Saturday adamantly refused to leave the bench after being ejected by referee Wes McCauley in a 7-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Facing a Sharks team that beat them in one of those trap games, 2-1 in November, to snap San Jose’s 0-10-1 start to the season, the Flyers are now dealing with a dinged-up back end.

Rasmus Ristolainen, Jamie Drysdale, and Nick Seeler are out, and Travis Sanheim and Egor Zamula each missed practice Monday before skating Tuesday morning.

Zamula missed Saturday with an illness but said he was feeling much better. Sanheim was given a maintenance day Monday after he got twisted up with Lightning forward Luke Glendening in the second period on Saturday. The defenseman called it a “scary incident” but said it won’t impact him moving forward.

“We’ve been dealing with [adversity] all season, right from Day 1,” Sanheim said. “I like our group. I like the guys in here and believe in the guys in here. And I think we’ll have an answer tonight.”

Tuesday marks the Flyers’ 66th game of the season as they begin the final countdown. With 17 games to go, they sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division, but the New York Islanders are nipping at their heels. The Patrick Roy-led squad, which is tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, enters Tuesday two points back of the Orange and Black with a game in hand.

The Flyers are on the precipice of not only losing their third-place spot but missing out on a postseason berth altogether. The time is nigh to draw from all the adversity the team has faced all season long.

“What is the quote? ‘What stands in the way becomes the way,’ ” said winger Garnet Hathway, referencing the words of Marcus Aurelius. “Things that make you struggle, make you find what you need to work on and be better at, in the end, will help you grow, to get to where you want to be. And I think that’s adversity.”

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Hathaway said the team takes it day by day but looks to the past more for hindsight. To understand the past should help the team down the stretch. It’s something Marc Staal is all too aware of. At 37, the defenseman has played in more than 1,100 regular-season games and has made the playoffs in 11 of his previous 16 seasons, including two Stanley Cup Final appearances.

“I think because playoffs are so hard, and things aren’t going to go well, and you have to learn as a team to bounce back,” said Staal. “You get that during the regular season, where you’re having a stretch or tough situation and you build your way out of and find your way out of it [so] you know that you have something to fall back on.

“So when you get into those situations later in the season, you know how to handle them and you’re confident as a team to do so. Any team very rarely doesn’t go through a season without going through some bumps, and we’re no different.”

Sam Ersson started in net. He will surely be looking for a little revenge after getting pulled Saturday in the first period and having been in net for that November loss to the Sharks. ... Newcomer Denis Gurianov will be in the lineup. He told The Inquirer that he is “excited to play today” and is still getting acclimated to Philly. ... Cam Atkinson and Nic Deslauriers stayed on late, suggesting that they will be healthy scratches. ... Flyers goalie prospect Alexei Kolosov’s KHL season ended Tuesday when Dinamo Minsk was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Now the watch begins to see whether Kolosov, who has already signed his entry-level contract, comes to North America to finish the season with the Phantoms or Flyers.