Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet wasn’t sure what to expect from his 10 players making their maiden voyage into the National Hockey League playoffs. But he couldn’t have been happier with how the team played in Game 1 on the road, and how the veterans and the youngsters seemed to take it all in stride.
“I don’t know if I was surprised, but the demeanor in today’s game, yesterday, I thought just the way they approached the game,” Tocchet said following Philadephia’s 3-2 win Saturday night. “To be honest, I was a little nervous that they might be nervous but we really tried to relax them. But I thought they did a really nice job of just staying with it. Even after tonight, it’s just one, it’s Game 1. This is going to be a long series and those kids, they were hooting and hollering a little bit. But what I liked about it was they were even-keeled, I just liked that demeanor. And they’re supplying that for us.”
Perhaps the biggest plus that came from the game was, outside of the victory, seeing so many young players rise to the occasion and not look like a collective fish out of water. It happened back in 2018 when the Penguins destroyed the Flyers 7-0 in Game 1 of their series back then. But from the opening faceoff, the Flyers didn’t just weather the storm but had the Penguins reeling at times.
“Even for the young guys to play at this pace the development is huge,” the coach said. “For them to get in this temperature and the way this playoff is, you fast-tracked the development because it’s pace out there. And those guys are getting it. So I’m happy to see our young guys in this kind of pace. Even Barks, I thought in the minutes he got I thought he played really well for us tonight, Barkey. It wasn’t too big for him the game I thought. I thought he played well.”
From Jamie Drysdale’s goal opening the scoring, to Porter Martone’s then-insurance goal which eventually turned out to be the game-winner, Philadelphia looked extremely composed for a team grossly overshadowed when it comes to Pittsburgh’s playoff experience. By the end of the night, it was some Penguin players who looked like the frustrated youngsters while Philadelphia’s youngsters like Martone — who Tocchet said showed “maturity” — and Denver Barkey turned the other cheek, the latter often up against 6’8″, 252-pound winger Elmer Soderblom. More often than not, Barkey came away with the puck after battles in the corners.
Tocchet said Philadelphia’s approach wasn’t a run-and-gun style which would’ve fallen right into Pittsburgh’s strategy. Instead, they continued forcing their will on their opponent, checking them into the ground while not allowing them to gain any speed through the neutral zone. That style never wavered despite Philadelphia have some great chances off horrid Penguin turnovers that Pittsburgh’s Stuart Skinner bailed them out on.
“That’s the key, we talked about that, just stay with the game,” Tocchet said. “We can’t cheat the game, because if you cheat the game, bang, it can go the other way. So I don’t think we cheated the game tonight. I thought we played a smart game. I thought Stuart was really good. I mean he stopped three or four really Grade A chances, and I thought Vladdy was good too. Both goaltenders were really good tonight. But in the playoffs you got to figure out when you can cheat, but it has to be very calculated. I thought we were pretty calculated tonight.”
Overall, Tocchet said the two-way play was instrumental in Philadelphia keeping the shots to a minimum for Pittsburgh while also defending well, although the dying seconds had both fanbases on the edge of their seats. “I liked our play without the puck, I thought we did a nice job,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been really good at the last six weeks, trying to stay in our identity. We knew they were going to come but I really like our play without the puck tonight.”
Physicality by Sanheim and Couturier also crucial
By night’s end, there were a combined 81 hits between both clubs, with Pittsburgh having the edge 41-40. The Penguins threw their weight around early, but a huge hit by Sean Couturier brought any Flyers who might have been on edge into the zone.
“Yeah I think the Pens had two or three really good hits, they had the crowd going and I think Coots went out that shift and he really hit somebody,” Tocchet said of Couturier who had seven hits in Game 1. “I think it kind of helped settle our bunch down, even the young guys. When your captain does that, he answered the bell. It was a big hit after the Penguins had a couple of good hits on us.”
“Well I know it’s the playoffs, everyone kind of steps up their intensity, just trying to have an impact in a way that I could early on,” Couturier said after the game. “But physically it felt good. As a team though we were ready from the start.”
Tocchet told the club earlier in the day that finishing checks was important, but to not go overboard and take yourself out of position. Particularly against a club with so much offensive power.
“When you play a team like that and the players they have, you got to be a physical team,” he said. “The one thing is you can’t run around. if you’re six or seven feet away to finish your check is really not the smartest thing. But if your three feet, you got to finish your check. I think that’s what we talked about. They had some good hits too, they were physical too. It’s going to be the same way, it’s going to be the team that can continue to do it over and over again is usually the successful ones.”
And while Couturier was visible with his play, as well as driving Sidney Crosby batty, Travis Sanheim (who was tied with Nick Seeler among blueliners with three hits) did his part to contribute to the misery Crosby endured throughout the game. It was something the coach felt was important, namely play a bit outside of one’s comfort zone in order to get the job done.
“I think Sanny set the tone, I think in these playoff games you have to play uncomfortable, right, you got to do some stuff,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that you normally not do, but Sanny’s played well for us all year. I don’t know how many minutes he played tonight, like a ton of minutes. And to play physical, that’s hard, and then try to supply offense and kill penalties. It was a tough night and he really led the physicality for us. And obviously it was a hell of a goal, a beautiful goal.”
