Flyers takeaways: Scott Laughton’s future, Jamie Drysdale’s injury, and more

PITTSBURGH — Four huge points wasted away.

That’s what Scott Laughton said in the locker room after the Flyers were handed a 7-6 loss on Sunday by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 24 hours after a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

Saturday’s game was a hard-fought battle between two of the top teams in the Metropolitan Division, one that showed the Flyers can compete with the upper echelon of the NHL. Sunday was a different story as the Flyers competed hard and tied things up multiple times but couldn’t find the final equalizer in a game that didn’t have the same bite despite being another rivalry game.

“It’s a tough one. You score six, you hope you win most nights, and we shot ourselves in the foot too many times,” Travis Sanheim said.

Facing a Penguins team nine points back and on the precipice of missing the playoffs for the second straight season, the Flyers continuously let Pittsburgh get one- and two-goal leads. It was a game the Flyers should have won.

» READ MORE: Flyers score six goals, but it’s not enough in a loss to the Penguins

If they had, they would have created even more space between themselves and the guys wanting to knock them out of their postseason spot. The Flyers’ next opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, defeated the New Jersey Devils, 4-1. The Devils, who have 24 games left, are five points behind the Flyers, who have 23 to play.

As Sanheim said, they were “points we desperately need.”

Here are five observations from the Flyers’ loss.

The number of times the Flyers have trailed by one goal — nay, two goals — and come back before falling short feels as countless as the stars. Despite taking a 1-0 lead against the Penguins, they trailed 2-1, 4-2, and 6-4, before cutting it to 6-5 and the final score of 7-6.

“It’s tough when you’re chasing games. I think we did a lot last year and it’s tough, it’s tough,” Laughton said. “Guys are grinding through it and trying to get back but let a couple in on their power play. Could have been a little bit better there and special teams try and pop one there. But, yeah, you’re chasing it, you’re trying to get back and we were close, we were close and played to the last minute there but it’s not good enough at this time of year. And guys know it, so we’ve got to be better.”

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Chasing games has been a term used quite a lot this season. But when they are chasing they tend to catch it. It probably didn’t help that they could only muster 21 shots on Tristan Jarry, a day after putting 40 on Igor Shesterkin. But it says a lot about this team, that it can battle back and get goals when needed.

“It’s not frustrating,” coach John Tortorella. said. “I know that’s what we have on our team. So, that’s a positive. We didn’t win tonight but it’s a positive how we just keep on playing.”

Laughton is making quite the statement.

As his name consistently swirls in trade rumors — despite general manager Danny Brière telling ABC on Saturday that the Flyers are not shopping him — the veteran forward has gone on an absolute heater. With two goals and an assist against Pittsburgh, he extended his point streak to a career-high seven games (10 points; four goals, six assists) and his assist streak to six. He was also plus-4 and hasn’t posed a negative plus-minus since the last game before the All-Star break.

“Yeah, I feel good. I think getting the opportunity, going out on the power play and things like that, I’m starting to feel the puck a little bit better,” he said. “Since the break, I think I’ve kind of shifted my mindset of what I want to do here and who I want to be. So that’s kind of been my focus here, to not only try and be the best teammate but contribute positively on the ice.”

» READ MORE: What do the Flyers do with Scott Laughton, Sean Walker, and Travis Konecny at the trade deadline

Laughton has said he wants to stay with the Flyers and continue to be part of the rebuild. He’s making that clear with his play, which included a shot from the point to open the scoring; a shorthanded goal — the Flyers’ 14th of the season, an NHL best — to tie the score at 4; and an assist on Tyson Foerster’s second goal late in the game that made it 7-6.

“A big part of who Laughts is, is the mindset, is the pro in him,” Tortorella said. “He knows he’s been inconsistent. He knows it’s a very important time of the year. And that’s what you respect about a guy like that. He stepped up tonight, I think had 20-plus minutes. He understands where we are as a team. I think he’s trying to take it upon himself.”

Laughton played 20 minutes, 50 seconds. It was just the fifth time this season he hit the 20-minute mark, and the first time since he played a season-high 24:50 on Jan. 13 against the Winnipeg Jets. One month ago, on Jan. 25, he saw the ice for just 9:09, his lowest total of the season.

You couldn’t blame Olle Lycksell for the smile on his face when answering questions from the media after the game. Yes, the Flyers lost, but the Swede had his best game to date under Tortorella.

“I felt pretty fresh since I played last night. I had good confidence stepping into this game and yeah, it was nothing crazy,” Lycksell said.

Saying that he played just a game Saturday night is an understatement. Suiting up for his first game with Lehigh Valley — and only his second game overall — since the All-Star break, Lycksell notched two goals and two assists, and was named the American Hockey League’s No. 1 star of the night. He “absolutely” used that as fuel after he received the call in North Carolina following the game he was going back to the big club.

“Today I got to play a lot,” Lycksell said. “Lately I haven’t been playing so much. But, yeah, it goes up and down a little bit, but hopefully I can stick to the lineup here a little bit more and see where it takes me.”

» READ MORE: Marcus Hayes: John Tortorella has a young Flyers team rolling. How? By changing his ways.

If he plays like he did in Pittsburgh, it could take him far.

Starting out on the fourth line, he notched an assist when he took a cross-check but made the heads-up play to get the puck to Laughton at the point. By the end of the second period, Lycksell was elevated to the top line, and in the third he was getting power-play time — which the guy who has nine power-play goals for the Phantoms said was “really nice.”

Lycksell collected his second assist of the game when he carried the puck into the Penguins zone and found the trailing Cam York for a laser to cut the score to 6-5. For a guy who has had two giant cups of coffee this season but played just his sixth game on Sunday, he found himself on the ice for the Flyers with two minutes to go in a one-goal game.

“He’s improved,” Tortorella said. “A guy that’s playing freer is him. I think he just feels more comfortable here and knows the guys better and feels more comfortable. So the ice time he got he deserved.”

Skating in the neutral zone, Jamie Drysdale had his head down before he got trucked by Jansen Harkins. The Flyers defenseman was in pain immediately as he grabbed at his left shoulder before heading straight down the tunnel. It is the same shoulder in which the 21-year-old sustained a torn labrum last October that ended his season eight games into the 2022-23 campaign.

Tortorella didn’t have an update on his status postgame, but the loss of the recently acquired blueliner would be massive for the Flyers.

“Jamie’s a key part of this team,” Sanheim said. “Don’t want to see an injury. Honestly don’t know to the extent of what it is but, yeah, we’re going to miss him, and hopefully it’s not too long.”

» READ MORE: Rookie Tyson Foerster will be ‘a big part’ of the Flyers’ stretch run.

Drysdale is still finding his way with the team as the system the Flyers play is different from what he experienced with the Anaheim Ducks. He has two goals and two assists in 17 games but has played a key role on the power play and has used his footwork and skating ability to open the ice up for his teammates.

Brière told The Inquirer on Wednesday that Drysdale was already “a little dinged up,” and now if he is out long-term, it could also alter the Flyers’ trade deadline plans. Sean Walker, who is also a right-handed shot but will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, has been the subject of trade rumors. Many consider him to be the odd man out of the Flyers’ seven defensemen since he and Drysdale play similar games. But as the Flyers march toward a postseason berth, they may now need him to stick around.

Cal Petersen looked like a goalie who hasn’t played much. Called up in late January, he made his first start since Feb. 10 and third NHL start since November.

Although he has participated in several practices, it can never substitute game action and it showed. His angles were off, he didn’t hug the post well, and on the goal he allowed to Emil Bemstrom, he had his stick angled so that the puck deflected off it and up over his shoulder.

But he also faced 32 shots, including four by Sidney Crosby and six by Bryan Rust, who scored twice. It was just the second time since Jan. 21 that the Flyers allowed 32 or more shots on goal — and one of those games was the outdoor game when everyone was shooting from everywhere.