Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella was, to put it kindly, less than impressed with his team's overtime loss to the New York Islanders in what was a must-win game to give them a more secure playoff spot.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella was, to put it kindly, less than impressed with his team's overtime loss to the New York Islanders in what was a must-win game to give them a more secure playoff spot.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella was, to put it kindly, less than impressed with his team's overtime loss to the New York Islanders in what was a must-win game to give them a more secure playoff spot.
The Flyers got a glimmer of hope when Morgan Frost scored the game-tying goal with just 9.6 seconds left in the third period to force overtime, but a turnover during the 3-on-3 allowed the Islanders' Brock Nelson to score and give the Isles the two points.
Tortorella summed up his assessment of the team in one simple, yet scathing, word: "Soft."
"Only one guy played—the goalie," he spit, referring to Ivan Fedotov, who made his NHL debut when he replaced Sam Errson in the second period. "[Fedotov was] terrific. He was the only guy that played...the only goddamn player that played in the second period."
Tortorella mentioned during Monday's morning skate that he actually saw it as a positive that the Flyers were in such a tight playoff race because it showed him what the team was made of and which players could handle the pressure, and he reiterated that sentiment post-game.
"You're finding things out here," he said. "When these games are [on a] whole different plane—it's still regular season, but it's a whole different plane. We're finding things out."
He did acknowledge that his frustration was "not [at] the whole game and not [with] the whole group," saying, "There are certain people that don't have a clue how to play or just don't have it in them to play in these types of situations. This is why I'm glad we're playing in them, because we have to figure things out as far as what we're going to become as a team here."
They may still be figuring things out, but one thing is for sure: That performance was the furthest thing from what Tortorella wanted to see from his players.
"It was embarrassing," he emphasized. "That was embarrassing—the second period—for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform, the way we played. Embarrassing. High marks for how we came back in the third—[for] some guys."
After clarifying that he didn't have an update on the status of Sean Couturier, who left the game in the first period after smashing his shoulder directly into the boards, Tortorella gave his thoughts on what rest could do for his team, as they have four days until their next game against the Buffalo Sabres.
"We can talk about that s***—rest, this, that, the other thing," he said. "If you don't have enough balls to play in these types of games, rest doesn't do us any good. It doesn't do us any good."
Unsurprisingly, it was after this answer that the Flyers' PR representative abruptly cut the press conference short—a total time of just under two minutes.
Make sure to bookmark THN's Philadelphia Flyers site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Sean Couturier Exits Islanders Game Early After Bad Collision
Flyers Get Drysdale Back, Set To Play Against Islanders
3 Takeaways From Flyers' Loss vs. Blackhawks
Flyers Prospects: Alexei Kolosov Lands In Vorhees To Start In Flyers System
Tyson Foerster Scores 20th Goal Of The Season; Flyers Suffer "Drubbing" From Blackhawks