The Flyers need to ‘get back to our personality’ if they are to sustain their first-half success

John Tortorella said it best after the Flyers’ 2-1 comeback win over the Florida Panthers on Monday night: “We need to get back to our personality.”

Indeed.

It had been 20 days and five games since his squad won a game, a decisive 5-1 victory on Jan. 18 against the Dallas Stars which extended the team’s winning streak to five games at the time. In that stretch, the Flyers were the only NHL team that failed to register a win, were outscored 27-12, saw their penalty kill drop to 80% effectiveness, and ranked 18th in blocked shots with a paltry 75. Gasp.

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But of course those 20 days included a 10-day All-Star break. A chance to rest, relax, and — as many players harped — reset.

The reset button was a little stuck, though. It took about 20 minutes’ worth of anxiety that the Flyers would be mired in mediocrity before they returned to the team that deservedly sat third in the Metropolitan Division at All-Star Weekend.

But unlike KFC, there’s no secret sauce here for the Flyers. Their 11, er, six herbs and spices are well-known: goaltending, blocking shots, chances off the rush, an elite penalty kill, defending a lead, and a never-say-die attitude. It’s a special blend — a personality — they’ve used throughout the season.

Is it easy? Nope. Defenseman Nick Seeler was doubled over in pain a few times from blocked shots on Tuesday; he blocked six of the team’s 22. Could they do without falling behind and clawing their way back? Absolutely. The team only has eight comeback wins but has fallen behind before tying games, or clawed to within a goal, way too often this season.

“You know, I don’t know what it says about [our team]. I’m just glad we won,” Tortorella said. “I think for our athletes, we need to get some sort of swagger back and some confidence and they should feel really good about it. ... The key for us is to try in games, within the game and then game to game, to sustain our personality. And that’s our battle, and it’s going to be our battle all through here.”

As his buddies took a bit to wake up in Sunrise, Fla., goaltender Sam Ersson was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from the moment the puck was dropped. The 24-year-old once again was a calming, confident presence between the pipes and continues to impress Tortorella. He made several big-time saves that allowed his team to not completely collapse despite the ice being heavily titled in the Panthers’ favor early on. Ersson faced 28 shot attempts, including 10 on goal, in the opening frame and allowed just a power-play goal to Carter Verhaeghe; the Flyers had 11 shot attempts by contrast.

One of those shot attempts was a good chance by winger Travis Konecny. The 2024 All-Star had a breakaway chance that was stopped by Anthony Stolarz in the first period. He then scored off the rush in the second period for his 23rd goal of the season. According to Sportlogiq, he is the league leader in goals off the rush. Entering the second half of the season the Flyers were No. 1 in rush chances and fourth in goals. It’s a big part of their recipe for success.

“No, I mean, that’s kind of how we play, right?” Konecny said when asked recently by The Inquirer if he was surprised by the Flyers’ rankings on the rush. “We play on our toes, play forward, and make it hard on teams. If they’re going to turn the puck over then it’s going to be costly for them.”

» READ MORE: The rebuilding Flyers are in playoff position at the All-Star break. Here’s how they’ve done it.

Noah Cates’ goal came off such a turnover, albeit in the Panthers’ zone, with the Minnesota native pouncing on a loose puck and making a backhand-to-forward move for a nifty goal early in the third period. Once the Flyers got the lead, they clamped down. Florida got just three shots on goal in the entire third period, all coming after Cates scored and none coming in the last 6 minutes, 44 seconds.

The Flyers team that showed up in the final 40 is the team fans have seen them become. They play hard — they outhit the Panthers, 23-16 — and they make it difficult for other teams to find their game. The tables turned and the Panthers became the sloppy team that was struggling to find its offense.

“It shows a lot of character and what we have in our team,” Ersson said. “We know we had to step things up big time after the first period, and we did. Then we found a way to come up with a huge win here.”