The (not so) great outdoors.

It was a frigid, windy night in East Rutherford, where Rocky Balboa met Tony Soprano on a sheet of ice and promptly made him swim with the fishes. The Flyers are now 1-5 in outdoor games, and even though it was an ugly loss, they're still five points ahead of the Devils and setting their full sights on their next game.

Moving By It

John Tortorella was surprisingly quite calm in his post-game press conference, acknowledging that there were plenty of things the Flyers could've done better, but making it abundantly clear that they weren't going to be dwelling on this loss. 

"We move by it. We're thinking about Chicago," Tortorella said. "It's one loss. You lose the game, we move by it...There's 20-plus games left. We're not going to get into counting points and all that. We don't operate like that. We just get ready for our next game. That game scares the s— out of me in Chicago. I want us ready to play that game. That's the next game."

Travis Sanheim made a similar comment: "We've got to move on and get ready for the next one. I'm not worried about this group."

The message was plain—the Flyers are still in the driver's seat when it comes to their destiny, and they don't have time to constantly be checking the rearview mirror for the teams behind them in the standings. What matters most is their own spot in the playoffs (which they're still holding onto), and focusing on the next game in front of them. One of Tortorella's biggest points during all of the Stadium Series fanfare was that he trusts his team wholeheartedly and doesn't feel the need to "hold their hand" constantly. He knows that the locker room can hold themselves accountable and figure out what needs to be fixed, and, most importantly, fix it in the next game. 

Another Round of Shots

The score might have been 6-3, but don't be fooled—it's not because the Flyers were afraid to go forward. They had plenty of shots on goal, but obviously couldn't capitalize on many of them. To his credit, Devils goalie Nico Daws put on an incredible display tonight, but the Flyers did miss their fair share of sitters. 

This isn't a new issue for them, but it is a frustrating one considering all of the offensive talent they have in players like Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, and Morgan Frost. While Tippett netted two goals, his fellow forwards struggled to finish their own chances. The Flyers outplayed the Devils during plenty of stretches throughout the game, but when the Devils found pockets of opportunity to punish the Flyers, they did so viciously. 

Alexa, Play "The Penalty Box" by Dave Schultz

The officials weren't shy about handing out penalties to both teams, but you have to imagine that Tortorella wasn't pleased with some of the ones his team conceded, especially ones they gave up while on the power play. Going back and forth so many times from being on the power play, to 4-on-4 hockey, to the penalty kill made for a choppy game rhythm and didn't allow for the Flyers to find a good groove to settle into. 

"I thought the most important part of the game was when we got it rolling in the second period, but then we started taking penalties," Tortorella said. "Not so much being a man down, but we're man down, 4-on-4. We needed another goal in the second period. I thought we were right there knocking on the door, but then we took some penalties and it took us out of our flow. We had them...we were getting it up with chances. We needed one more and we just kind of lost ourselves at the end of the period."

While Tortorella has expressed his frustration with the Flyers giving up unnecessary penalties in the past, he acknowledged that the zeal his players exhibited is just a part of their individual playing styles, and he has no plans to get in the way of that.

Speaking on Konecny's slashing penalty that was done out of pure frustration instead of strategy, Tortorella said, "That's TK. As I've said to you guys before, I'm not getting in the way of his emotion."

It would be ideal for the Flyers to simply try to stay out of the box as much as possible, but it's evident that the coaching staff is placing more value on maintaining the team's identity and players' individuality. If that means some extra time in the box...well..they do have the second-best penalty kill in the league!

The Flyers next game will be an away match against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 21 at 7:30 pm EST. 

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