Flyers spend a practice working on things that need fixing

      A number of Flyers are off to sluggish starts and that’s a big part of why the team is off to its least successful opening week in 11 years.

      Monday night’s 4-1 loss at Tampa left them with an 0-2-2 mark, the roughest getaway since the beginning of the 2014-15 season (also 0-2-2).

      After Tuesday’s practice in Tampa, coach Rick Tocchet explained some of the reasons why his team is still looking for its first win.

      “You have to build your game,” Tocchet said. “That’s something we spent a lot of time at practice today, the small-ice game. Something that we’re really behind the eight ball with, you know, making these plays under pressure. Deception, moving your feet, being creative. It starts with work ethic. Small-ice drills, it’s almost like we’re going to have to do this every day now.”

      Tocchet raised a few eyebrows when he criticized his team’s compete level after the Lightning game. It was another night of giving up too many shots and not taking enough. The minus-82 for negative shot differential through four games is the second-worst since the 1959-60 NHL season.

      The Flyers have not looked sharp in a number of areas. The power play has shot blanks in 11 attempts and the line changes in all situations have been sloppy.

      Tocchet was asked if the players’ mental side of the game is where it needs to be.

      “I mean, this is a game, you know, it’s a game of mental toughness and confidence,” the coach said. “There’s got to be a mental toughness in the sense like, you know, if you’re getting beat up the ice consistently, you’re getting beat to a puck.”

      When teams are playing at their best, the anticipation level is high.

      “I think anticipation is a big part of hockey,” Tocchet said. “Anticipating where the puck’s going to go, having a head start on the guy. Sometimes that will help kickstart you.”

      A lot has been made of this year’s shorter training camp. That complaint is starting to wear thin as far as making excuses for mistakes.

      “It’s not an excuse,” Tocchet reiterated. “But I think when you’re a younger team, you know, it’s been, three-four months off, you come back and now we got to repro(gram), not program the mind, but re-energize the mind of these situations.

      “We have way too many turnovers. We’ve got to make a play under pressure. Maybe that’s the hardest thing after coming back from the summer. We’re one of the teams that’s struggling with that stuff.”

      >Bump’s status

      With the return of Denver Barkey, Alex Bump was a healthy scratch on Monday night. What’s been the problem in the early going for the talented young left wing?

      “For him, it’s confidence,” Tocchet said. “The first couple games I had him up in the lineup. I think when he thinks so much, that’s when he gets in trouble. We’ve got to build his game back. Get him in the lineup in the right situations where he can thrive, but he also has to be able to do what we’re asking him to do in the right spots.”

      >Acciari’s formula

      Veteran Noel Acciari has played all over the NHL so he knows how to analyze problems when they arise.

      His solution to the Flyers’ current woes can be summed up in three words: Keep it simple.

      “Yeah, it’s not going to be easy,” Acciari said. “It’s going to be kind of a greasy way to win. We all got to dig in. It’s not going to be pretty but simple, predictable. Once we string some of those together. . .we can’t make those backdoor passes – it’s going to be get it in deep, go to work and that’s what we’re going to need to do.”

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