Despite the Loss, the Flyers Showed Way More Life in Game 2: ‘We’ve Been Dead Before, and We’ve Climbed Out of the Grave’

After the Flyers lost 3-0 in Game 1, it felt like the Flyers were dead after the first game. They were outclassed by the Hurricanes in every single way possible on Saturday night, but on Monday, that was a different story. 

Despite the 3-2 loss in overtime, the result was a much different outcome than what many were expecting. The Flyers looked much more alive the second time around, but you can’t get sloppy against a team like the Hurricanes, who know exactly what to do at the right spot.

Still, the final score is the final score. The Flyers will be heading back to Philadelphia down 2-0 in the series. But they looked much better than they were in Game 1. They jumped out and scored two goals in the first five minutes, including one on the power play, which has been a struggle all postseason. They were able to control the pace for a while, giving the Flyers a chance against a Carolina team that is really hard to play against.

But the Hurricanes were able to turn the game around in their favor when the right moment arrived. Despite Daniel Vladar saving 39 out of 42 shots and keeping the Flyers in the game late into the third with some fantastic saves, it just wasn’t enough. Carolina’s ability to come back from a two-goal deficit was the difference maker, playing against a team that did not back down in the slightest.

During the ESPN broadcast, their NHL reporter, Emily Kaplan, said that coach Rick Tocchet showed the team film of both the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. She said that those two teams in Florida played well against the Canes, and that film study carried over to the Flyers. The Flyers showed their weaknesses in Game 1, and they rebounded in a big way in Game 2. But until they turn those positives into a win, they will remain incomplete. The Flyers needed to respond, and while it looked like that for about 50 minutes, they weren’t able to execute when it mattered. 

“We’ve been dead before, and we’ve climbed out of the grave,” Tocchet said postgame. “We keep hearing we’re dead, dead, dead, but the guys never give up.

That showed in overtime. The Flyers were the much better team in the extra period, but if they can’t score when it matters, they’re not going to win games. They outshot Carolina 15-8, but 15 shots with no goal isn’t going to help you win games. If they had shot 15 times in the first period, fans and the team would see it as a bright start and a chance to capitalize.

They had a big chance to win it in overtime, courtesy of Travis Konecny on a breakaway opportunity, and he completely missed the net. The Flyers just can not afford to be missing shots like that in such a substantial moment in the game.

“I should have finished that,” Konecny said. “It should have been over, and we’re going home with a win.”

The Flyers forced Carolina to play a much harder game. The gap between the two teams looked nothing like what it was in Game 1, and the Flyers looked like the better team in stretches in Game 2, but being better only in certain time frames isn’t going to win them a game. They need to look like the better team for the entire 60 minutes. Against the Hurricanes, small mistakes can punish you, and that’s what happened with 66 seconds left in overtime. When a loose puck made its way to Taylor Hall, he sent the crowd home happy. The Flyers knew they made mistakes in Game 2, and those mistakes can’t carry over into Game 3 on Thursday.

“We’ve got a few days here,” Jamie Drysdale said, “regroup, learn from it, and come back harder at home”.

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