Too often, the Philadelphia Flyers (24-20-10) are the team not scoring the first goal of a game. In 2026, they were the first team to score six times. Today, following an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings (23-17-13), 3-2, the Flyers are officially finished with January 2026. In that span, Philadelphia went 4-8-3.
“It’s just a common theme. It’s not so much ‘flat.’ It’s like there’s a lot of nervous guys, you know? Three weeks, four weeks ago, you’re two, three points out of first, and obviously, every team’s got to go through a tough schedule, not much practice time, [and] adversity hits. You try to understand your team. [I’ve] been here five months trying to understand; not a lot of practice time. We got some young guys. So, what happens if a bad thing happens? It just snowballs. We’ve got to stop it, but that’s all part of the process of learning adversity. The start; I don’t know if it’s such a bad start. It’s just some of the decision-making at the wrong time; it ends up in our net. He had maybe three or four chances in the second and third. If we play the team game; we can’t afford to play our own game. We just can’t. It’s not an individual sport. We have too many guys that don’t mean to do it, but they have to understand we have to play a certain way if we’re going to compete. We did in the second and third, and we cleaned stuff up.” – Rick Tocchet; 1/31/2025
Contrary to how the rest of the first period played out, the Flyers had the game’s first quality scoring chance. Matvei Michkov had to reach back slightly to receive a pass from Bobby Brink, but the opportunity was thwarted by Darcy Kuemper. After that, the ‘common theme’ was introduced.
Adrian Kempe scored twice in a 3:58 span.
First, Alex Laferriere won a faceoff in the offensive zone. Drew Doughty shot into traffic, where Daniel Vladař made the initial save. He followed up, denying Laferriere. However, the puck remained loose, allowing Kempe to put the Kings ahead, 1-0, with 16:50 remaining in the first period.
Then, Laferriere and Kempe played the puck deep into the offensive zone. Brink and Rasmus Ristolainen had the strength in size and numbers to win a loose puck battle against Corey Perry, but fumbled the puck instead. Perry took advantage of the loose puck, then located Kempe in the high slot. His pass split a gap between Trevor Zegras and Denver Barkey, where Kempe snapped his shot past Vladař, 2-0, with 12:52 remaining in the first period.
“The biggest hurdle is when pressure hits you, you want the puck or you want to make the play, whatever the play is. It might not even [be that] you get the puck. You have to be in the middle to suck their player over. It’s almost like we go away from the puck, not hoping they don’t want it. I was talking about, ‘Go find that pressure and meet it.’ We missed seven, eight, or twelve-foot passes in the first period. That’s something, ‘Hey, man, you got to make a twelve foot pass.’ There’s technique to it. Skate; move your feet, snap it on the guy’s stick, [get] the other guy’s support, and let’s go. That’s really part of hockey. We started to do it in the second and third, but it took a while for us to get it going. I think it’s nerves. I think some guys are really nervous out there, and I got to help these guys out in that situation.” – Rick Tocchet; 1/31/2026
Rick Tocchet helped Philadelphia dodge a third goal in the first period, which would’ve been the nail in the coffin in the opening act. Andrei Kuzmenko scored, but Tocchet was successful in his challenge that Kevin Fiala was offside.
But the Flyers put themselves in back-to-back disadvantages. Michkov served a minor penalty for too many men on the ice, earned by Nicolas Deslauriers. Then, Sean Couturier served a minor penalty for holding. Ristolainen and Owen Tippett excelled on the penalty kill, turning the tide for Philadelphia. Ristolainen held his position, stifling Fiala after he slipped past Tippett, then Tippett cleared the defensive zone, turning the possession into a shot attempt that missed high and wide.
The Flyers finished 2/2 (100%) on the penalty kill.
“After the first two goals, it’s like, ‘Come on, guys.’ These are coverages, and like I said, we’re a young team and practice, but every coach says it; they want more practice. We haven’t had many practice times, and we have some guys in that room that they need physical reps. You look at our left side, there’s not a lot of experience right there. So, you got to play these guys through it. You got to keep playing guys through situations; make them understand, ‘Hey, this is important.’ Their one goal in the middle of the ice, you have to be there for us. You can’t be unfocused and it goes into the net. Now, all the sudden, you’re down two-nothing. But, I do like the resolve in the group. We hung in there. TK’s [Travis Konecny] been hot. Unfortunately, [he] hits the post, then all of a sudden, it’s a different narrative. But, we lost. That’s the way it works.” – Rick Tocchet; 1/31/2026
Doughty began the second period in the penalty box, serving the remainder of his two-minute minor for holding. Zegras entered with the puck into the offensive zone on the power play, then Christian Dvorak trapped the puck along the wall, where Brink gathered possession. He crossed the puck along the blue line to Travis Konecny. A give-and-go exchange between Brink and Konecny grabbed the attention of Kuemper, and Zegras scored on the open look, 2-1, with 19:21 remaining in the second period.
On the day, Philadelphia finished 1/2 (50%) on the power play. Noah Cates hit the post later in the second period when Cody Ceci served a minor penalty for delay of the game.
Throughout the second period, the Flyers began to dictate the gameflow. Vladař provided momentum, making crucial saves against Ceci and Samuel Helenius. Post-whistle activity increased, and then Zegras collided with Kuemper before breaking for intermission.
‘[In] Columbus, we gave them [the Blue Jackets] a game. [In] Boston, I don’t think the score is indicative of it. I thought there’s good parts of it. We were behind so early, and then bad things happened. Two-nothing, three-nothing; it’s impossible to come back all the time. We did at the beginning of the year, but it’s a different part of the season.” – Rick Tocchet; 1/31/2026
Konecny remained white-hot. Ristolainen took a shot on goal, and as the puck sailed toward the target, Konecny deflected it past Kuemper, 2-2, with 19:35 remaining in the third period.
“He’s [Konecny] setting it. He’s trying to do the right things. He’s getting open, like he’s sprinting. He’s getting those goals like he’s sprinting. That’s why I’m trying to get these guys to understand; get to those areas quick. There might be some sticks and bodies in there, but you got to get inside. I call it ‘race to get inside.’ He’s racing to get inside; it’s not a slow developing play. Grebenkin; he’s starting to try to do those things, and he’s a little bit better. Some guys are trying. Barkey; he’s a young kid. He’s played twenty NHL games. He’s trying this stuff. There are guys that are trying to get inside for us.” – Rick Tocchet; 1/31/2026
Vladař continued to give Philadelphia every possible chance to complete the comeback in regulation time. Los Angeles had forwards in prime areas against Vladař, but none of those pucks crossed the goal line. Then, when the Flyers were on the attack, Konecny nearly located Dvorak twice around the slot or hash marks. His first pass didn’t connect, then Dvorak missed the net wide on the second opportunity. More time was a requirement to declare a winner.
In overtime, Tocchet began with Dvorak, Konecny, and Travis Sanheim. For a moment, it looked like the puck went into and out of the net, as if it struck iron after crossing the goal line. The goal horn at ‘The Call Center’ went off momentarily, but Konecny didn’t score. Not long after, Quinton Byfield scored the game-winner, 3-2, with 2:12 remaining in the overtime period.
“I’ve been in the league [for] forty years. There’s highs and lows. You’re going to get punched in the mouth, and you got to keep believing in what you’re doing; the way you approach the game. I could give you guys an hour for culture; making sure you’re on time for treatments. Are you shooting pucks on your off days. There’s things like that you have to do if you want to get out of this thing. Develop people. You got to back check. You can’t back check when you want. These are the process we’re going to go through, and to learn about your team when the adversity hits. We’re learning right now.” – Rick Tocchet; 1/31/2026
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Washington Capitals at 7pm/ET on Tuesday, February 3rd.
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