BOSTON – Morgan Frost came on strong at the end of last season but there doesn’t seem to have been a carryover effect. At least not yet.
Frost entered Tuesday night’s game still looking for his first goal and sporting a team-worst minus-12.
Against Montreal on Sunday night, the Flyers center found himself somewhat demoted to fourth-line duty.
Where do things stand with him?
“Just like a lot of other guys, not just picking on ‘Frosty,’ said coach John Tortorella at the morning skate at TD Garden. “. . .there are a number of other guys, their games are not there, his game is not there, both offensively and defensively.
“It’s kind of a blanket statement, other than two or three guys. Coaches have to get better, the players have to get better.”
Tortorella has been doing a lot of mixing and matching with his lines during the early going. Until the record starts to improve and the offensive production picks up, those changes might continue.
>New pairing doing well
With defenseman Cam York on IR for a minimum of two weeks, his partner, Travis Sanheim, has been paired with Rasmus Ristolainen. There seems to be a little chemistry there.
Tortorella has been pleased with Sanheim’s play. And why not? He scored a pair of goals in Sunday night’s 4-3 loss to Montreal.
“I don’t think there’s any question who’s leading the pack there,” Tortorella said in reference to Sanheim. “I think he’s trying to drag people into it with him.”
>Moms’ special event
In the past, a number of NHL teams, including the Flyers, would invite players’ dads along for a road game as well as a home game.
This year, things got changed up because the Flyers players’ moms had their own special get-together.
It was quite meaningful for Scott Laughton because he just became a dad the other day when he and his wife, Chloe, had a baby boy (Reed).
Laughton said it’s nice to give his mom a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at what life is like for a pro hockey player.
“It’s amazing,” Laughton said. “My dad’s been on a bunch of them. Time for mom to come. She’s very excited. My dad’s a little jealous. Just going on the plane is pretty cool for her. Very special. I’m grateful to have her here.”
>Brink back in
Bobby Brink, who was a healthy scratch the other day, returned to the lineup and Nick Deslauriers had the night off.
>10-game evaluation
Tuesday night was the Flyers’ 10th game of the season. Tortorella likes to make an assessment of his team in 10-game increments.
So, in light of a 2-6-1 start, how did things look heading into the Boston game?
“I think sometimes it takes time to realize how bad things really are,” the coach said. “I think that’s our job. What we have to balance is try to be as positive as we can be so we can get out of this thing. But we have to be as honest as we can be.
“That’s the tightrope I’m walking right now because there are some things going on that are just unacceptable. But you can’t keep beating your team down.”
