Sunday night against Calgary wasn’t one the Philadelphia Flyers will look back on fondly.

A flat 2–1 loss to the Flames capped off a back-to-back that saw Philadelphia’s energy and execution drop noticeably — and head coach Rick Tocchet didn’t mince words afterward.

“It was an ugly game,” Tocchet said. “I feel bad for the fans; it wasn’t a fun game to watch. [The Flames] weren’t doing much either. They got their two goals from screens and tip-ins… That’s what we’re looking for. They did it twice and they scored.”

That, in a nutshell, was the difference. The Flames generated two goals from the kind of direct, traffic-heavy chances the Flyers talk often about creating but didn’t commit to on Sunday. 

Lack of “Will” a Growing Concern

If Tocchet sounded frustrated, it’s because he’s seen this pattern before. After a strong start to the season, the Flyers’ effort level has not been where he's wanted it to be over the last few games, and their head coach made it clear that it’s more about mindset than tactics.

“It’s my job to get these guys to do it,” Tocchet said. “We had a good record going on two games ago, and the will just wasn’t there the last few games. We just didn’t have the will. Even some of our best players — they want to play the easy ice and not the hard ice.”

Tocchet has mentioned before that if the Flyers want to make a convincing postseason push, they have to shed the tendency to gravitate towards "easy ice" and be more willing to get down into the harder, greasier areas.

And it looked like the message was getting across. The Flyers built early success this season on its willingness to grind, to win puck battles, to crash the net and generate chaos. Against Calgary, much of that evaporated. Players floated to the perimeter. There wasn’t enough traffic in front of Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, and too many shifts passed without a real push.

Tocchet said the team will be emphasizing net-front play in future practiced — “almost constantly,” in his words — until it becomes habit again.

Konecny Calls It Like It Is

Alternate captain Travis Konecny, who scored the Flyers' lone goal in this game, also didn't shy away from accountability during his postgame availability.

When asked about the concept of getting back to basics and getting into more of that "hard ice" territory, he said, "It was the focus of our meeting this morning, the whole meeting. It’s definitely something we need to do. I thought the defense did a pretty good job putting pucks there tonight, and it’s on us to keep going to the net and make sure that we’re getting there.”

Tocchet agreed with Konecny’s assessment but added a pointed reminder.

“He’s right,” he said. “We’ve just gotta do it. We’ve gotta stop telling the press that, we’ve gotta do it—action, right?”

Kolosov Gets First NHL Start of 2025-26

With Sam Ersson still on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, Aleksei Kolosov has been called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to fill on the Flyers' goaltending tandem with Dan Vladar.

The 23-year-old Belarusian made his first NHL start of the season and held up well, stopping 19 of 21 shots.

While both Flames goals were on the flukier side, Kolosov looked pretty solid in the crease. Afterward, he said he feels more settled in North America now that he’s had time to adapt to smaller ice and the quicker pace.

Line Shuffles, Little Spark

With Tyson Foerster out with a lower-body injury (to be re-evaluated in a few days), Tocchet had to shuffle his lines around a bit.

The most notable change was Owen Tippett moving up to play alongside Noah Cates and Bobby Brink, taking Foerster's usual spot in what has become the Flyers' most consistent offensive threat. Without the full trio of Foerster, Cates, and Brink, the line lost some of its effectiveness, but Cates had faith that they could utilize Tippett's talents to make things click in Foerster's absence.

“We were kind of disconnected,” Cates admitted postgame. “But if we use [Tippett's] speed and his shot, he can really help us. With us, we can get our forecheck going and that’s our bread and butter, just getting pucks on net and then we go from there.”

Lessons Going Forward

Tocchet was right about one thing: this wasn’t a fun game to watch. It was uninspired — the kind of performance that says more about attention to detail than talent level. The Flyers have been at their best when they play direct, fast, and engaged. Across this back-to-back, that edge dulled.

Still, it’s early. Tocchet was blunt but not panicked, framing this stretch as a necessary reminder of how thin the margin for error is, reiterating, “If you want to play in April and May, you’ve gotta play hard hockey.”

Philadelphia’s next few practices will focus on that message. The Flyers don’t need to reinvent their system — they just need to rediscover their urgency.