Flyers now facing an almost ‘must-win’ game of their own

Officially it’s listed as Game 6.
But for the Flyers, it might as well be considered Game 7.
Even though the guys in orange and black won the first two games of their opening round best-of-seven series at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena, they lost there on Monday night and, if forced to play there again, would be decided underdogs.
That’s why Wednesday night’s game at Xfinity Mobile Arena is so crucial to the Flyers.
Only four teams in the history of the National Hockey League have come back from an 0-3 deficit and the 2010 Flyers were one of them.
They fell behind the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals, then roared back to advance to the next round. They polished off the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals before falling to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Final.
Now the Flyers will be trying their hardest to not become victim No. 5.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet just wants his team to play its game and do all the good things that got them to come back from a nine-point deficit to make the playoffs, the first team in NHL history to overcome that large a gap after 60 games.
The Flyers did not hold an organized practice on Tuesday but players such as Christian Dvorak and Sean Couturier took time in Zoom media conference calls to answer questions about the upcoming showdown.
“I think we have a great opportunity, we’re still in a good spot,” Dvorak said. “We have a chance to close it out here tomorrow. We still have to stay positive. The games here have been pretty close, we just have to stick with it and put our best foot forward tomorrow.”
One thing the Flyers will have to address is how to get pucks past Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs, who has two straight wins after taking over for orginal netminder Stuart Skinner.
Another aspect the Flyers should keep an eye on is their line changes. On Pittsburgh’s first goal Monday night, the Flyers bungled the manpower switch and it proved costly.
It’s small details like that to which the Flyers have to give their attention.
“There are a lot of small moments or little dtails out there,” Dvorak said. “They mean a lot, especially this time of year. I think if we clean that up a little bit more, we’ll give ourselves a better chance to win. Little things like that could go a long way.”
Couturier is also a stickler for getting the finer points of the game right. The captain has always been a responsible player. He seldom makes mistakes when a game is on the line.
Couturier agrees with Dvorak that the Flyers still have the upper hand.
“A lot of people didn’t pick us to win,” he said. “I think we can learn a thing or two from the last two games. You can tell it’s a tight series, every shift matters. One mistake can cost you big. So I think it’s something you can learn from, be ready right from the start. Just make sure you live in the moment and make sure you get the job done.”
Tocchet hopes his players have learned some things the past two games. He doesn’t want them to feel like the moment is too big for them. Going through these situations is how you become a better hockey player.
“To get experience, you have to go through things,” he said. “The last two games, some stuff from experience had not been there before. To be honest, I can feel that a little bit.
“But saying that, we’re going into Game 6. We’ve played playoff hockey for the last six, seven weeks. So you’re looking for a bounce-back in the experience part. I know it’s a short window of experience but I think you can get that experience just from the last two games. They’ve all been close games. It’s just that the Penguins have played better than us.”

>Foerster looks for breakthrough

Tyson Foerster, who missed 49 games due to injury, came back strong at the tail end of the season but has not scored yet in these five games.
Tocchet said he’s not concerned.
“We’re trying to stick with him,” the coach said. “This is not just him. We’ve got some other guys that we need a little bit more from. It’s tough, hitting the wall, being able to play at that pace. Maybe he’s hit the wall a little bit.
“Twenty-four hours, thirty-six hours, reset your brain can do wonders for a guy. Usually guys like that find their way. We’re not giving up on Tyson. He’s too good of a hockey player.”