Before the game, John Tortorella and his fellow coaches met with the Flyers players. They knew they were facing a buzzsaw of an opponent in the first place Carolina Hurricanes. They knew they would have to be sharp and crisp within their structure if they wanted to beat one of the league's best teams.
The coaches warned repeatedly about puck management - making simple plays and not trying to play outside of themselves. They were hoping the message would be received.
Then, 30 seconds into the game - a game that ended up being a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes - this happened:
Carolina goal!
Scored by Jordan Martinook with 19:30 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Jalen Chatfield and William Carrier.
Philadelphia: 0
Carolina: 1#CARvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #RaiseUp pic.twitter.com/x7N4uNSDth
You don't see it in the video (Couldn't find one with the actual pass) but Scott Laughton turned the puck over trying to make a pass to Anthony Richard on a breakout. It was the first of what would be a whopping 25 giveaways the Flyers would have in the game. It ultimately cost Laughton a chunk of playing time, as Torts rooted his butt to the bench for most of the first two periods, including a long stretch of the second frame.
"We were talking about playing forward, playing straight ahead and then Laughts turns it over first shift of the game," Tortorella said. "I need him to lead the way in what we're trying to do against a team like that. And it's not just that one - there were a couple others within his game.
"I can't have Scotty Laughton just turn one over on the first shift after we just spent the whole meeting talking about it."
Thus, the benching.
But it wasn't just Laughton who fell victim to the case of the oopsies against a wagon of a Carolina squad as14 of 18 skaters who played in the game for the Flyers had at least one giveaway.
Travis Sanheim, who has been Mr. Everything for the Flyers this season, led the team with four. Captain Sean Couturier was right behind him with three.
And maybe that's what's sticking in Torts' craw more than anything. Yes, the younger, developing players made mistakes as well, but it's the veterans - the leaders of the team - that are making a bunch of errors too.
"The turnovers are what bother me," Tortorella said. "We spent a lot of time talking about it before the game - that we're going to have to be clean through the neutral zone. We are not good enough, we are not good enough to play that type of game, trying to beat people. We need to bring support over, make simple, little plays. If we have no play, we have to get it in."
The Flyers were able to hang with the Hurricanes for two periods and the score was tied 1-1 heading into the third, mostly because of the cape-wearing of goalie Ivan Fedotov.
But a little more than a minute into the third period, Fedotov let in a goal that he shouldn't have.
Most Game-Winning Goals, Hurricanes History:
Sebastian Aho - 58
Ron Francis - 57
Eric Staal - 47
Jeff O’Neill - 38
Kevin Dineen - 37
Seabass sets a new franchise record tonight! #RaiseUp
pic.twitter.com/FwjFPX0NWC
"He made some really good saves tonight," Tortorella said. "But I'd like to see a save there."
And from that point, the Flyers were completely discombobulated. The Hurricanes turned up the pressure to maximum levels and rather than match it, the Flyers wilted.
Carolina scored two more goals in quick succession - just 55 seconds apart - and it was all over except for the shouting.
The Flyers have now registered 300 giveaways this season through 20 games. That's an average of 15 per game. Hockey splits up its turnovers into giveaways and takeaways. Giveaways are the unforced turnovers, while takeaways are credited to the defensive player for forcing the turnover.
The 300 giveaways by the Flyers are the eighth-most in the NHL this season.
While their average of 14.69 giveaways per 60 minutes is in the middle of the pack in the league (14th most), you can occasionally get away with a higher giveaway game against a lesser opponent, but teams like Colorado, who the Flyers lost to on Monday, Carolina, and a couple teams the Flyers host next week - Vegas and the New York Rangers - will make the Flyers pay for those sins.
"The biggest correction we have to make is we have to manage the puck better in the neutral zone," Tortorella said. "That team (Carolina) wins so many sword fights in the neutral zone. The 50-50's. They have such good sticks. You think you're going to get a pass by them, or you think you're going to skate by them one-on-one, and they get you.
"If we aren't sharp enough to manage pucks through the neutral zone - really against any team with how beat up we are on our blue line - we're going to struggle."
