WASHINGTON, D.C. – No professional hockey player wants to be called soft.
Especially not by his captain.
But that’s pretty much how Sean Couturier characterized his hockey team after the Flyers were pushed around by the Washington Capitals in a one-sided 5-2 loss on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
The Flyers’ have a 60-year history of playing a physical brand of hockey, going all the way back to the days of the Broad Street Bullies.
Yet little of that toughness was on display by the Flyers when the two Metropolitan Division rivals hit the ice.
The Flyers just didn’t win enough puck battles, were hesitant along the walls and appeared shy to get into the dirty areas.
After the game, Couturier had a blunt assessment of what he just watched.
“At times this year we’re soft I would say,” Couturier said. “Not hard on battles. We lose battles easy. It’s one thing to make mistakes. But if you’re in there trying hard, it’s different.
“We definitely need to pick up our physicality. It goes into competing. It’s a men’s game. It’s the basics of the game. It’s winning one-on-one battles and creating chances off of that. Definitely an area of the game we need to be better.”
Nick Seeler agreed with his teammate.
“It’s winning one-on-one battles, whether it’s in the D-zone, beating your check,” Seeler said. “Getting the puck out, doing the gritty things consistently. It’s just not there. That’s something that we really need to address, fix it and add into our game.”
What’s causing the lack of physicality?
Seeler shook his head.
“I couldn’t tell you,” he said.
Have their been internal discussions in the room about this subject?
The answer was affirmative.
“Just focus on compete levels and playing for the crest,” he said. “That’s what it is all about. It’s not about getting points. It’s not about ‘me, me, me’, it’s about the team. Playing for each other, sacrificing for each other. It’s really not that difficult to understand. You play for the guy next to you. That’s what Flyers’ hockey is all about.
“When we start figuring that out at the puck drop, we will be a better hockey team.”
Informed of these comments, coach Rick Tocchet nodded in the affirmative.
“We obviously need more battle,” Tocchet said. “Throughout the year it’s inconsistent. That’s a big team over there. We expected that but I thought we got shy at certain parts of the game.”
The Capitals really threw their weight around down the stretch and the Flyers didn’t respond.
“We had pockets of it but when a team makes a push, we need some pushback,” Tocchet said.
When someone such as Couturier calls a team soft, it gets the coach’s attention.
“I’ve been on teams where leadership will do that,” the coach said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. There are parts of the year, where, whether it’s stick first, body position. There’s been times of that (softness) for sure.
“He’s not wrong. There are certain parts of the game where we need a little bit more dig. I know we’re a little smaller team but that doesn’t make an excuse for not getting a loose puck. There are certain situations you have to take the body. You don’t have to kill the guy, but I think that’s what it comes down to. You have to be physical. You can’t play pond hockey.”
The first goal for the Flyers came in the second period when Couturier tipped in a shot past goaltender Logan Thompson to tie the score 1-1 on his first goal of the season.
But the Capitals came right back to score twice against Flyers goaltender Joseph Woll.
First Jordan Kyrou scored the first two goals 11 seconds after Trevor Zegras went to the penalty box with the goal coming at 7:03. Then Aliaksei Protas connected at 16:47.
Philadelphia got to within a goal in the third period when Matvei Michkov scored his ninth goal of the season on the power play at 9:44. But the Caps bounced back on Kyrou’s second goal at 12:11.
The Flyers haven’t won at Capital One since Jan. 14, 2023.
It didn’t take long for the Flyers to get scored upon first. Just 1:50 after the opening whistle to be exact. Alex Tuch connected from about 15 feet. The Flyers are 1-6-3 when an opponent gets the first goal of the game. It was Tuch’s eighth goal in just 11 games. Later, Tuch added his ninth into an empty net in the closing minutes.
Woll had to be sharp late in the period as the Caps unleashed eight shots in the closing minutes.
>Defense shuffle
The Flyers once again shuffled their defense pairings. Jamie Drysdale was moved up to the first pair with Travis Sanheim. Cam York and Seeler formed the second unit and rookies Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald hooked up.
>Short shots
Speaking of Oct. 17, Porter Martone was tied for the rookie lead in points since that date with five. Oliver Bonk was third with four points. . .The Flyers’ next game is a Sunday 4 p.m. home game against Utah. . .With Jacob Gaucher back in the lineup, Michael Bunting was a healthy scratch.
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