{"id":458026,"date":"2025-10-19T05:02:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/458026\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T05:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T05:02:14","slug":"the-flyers-look-to-play-with-more-structure-after-consecutive-losses-during-their-homestand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/458026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Flyers look to play with more \u2018structure\u2019 after consecutive losses during their homestand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Standing in the locker room at Xfinity Mobile Arena after the Flyers\u2019 loss, defenseman Cam York<\/a> said of the visiting Winnipeg Jets, \u201cThey played a good road game.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a term heard repetitively in the NHL. Sometimes it\u2019s the Flyers saying how they played a good road game. Other times, like on Thursday night, it is about the visitors. <\/p>\n

So, with the Flyers amid a four-game homestand, and just one short trip to Ottawa on Thursday across the next eight games \u2014 including Saturday night\u2019s matchup against the Minnesota Wild (7 p.m., NBCSP) \u2014 what exactly does a good road game mean?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a different mindset of, obviously, you want to play a structured game on the road, but I think it\u2019s just harder because you don\u2019t have the fans behind you, you don\u2019t have the energy. So you\u2019re kind of creating your own energy, in a sense,\u201d said forward Owen Tippett<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cLook at Winnipeg, they didn\u2019t do anything crazy, they were kind of simple. Didn\u2019t really have too much going on. They just played a simple game and capitalized on their chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although some players quipped it\u2019s just a saying, there is something to the idea of keeping it simple. While the general rule in hockey is that the starting line\u2019s job is to get the puck deep and either get a goal or make the goalie create a stoppage, the Jets came out smothering and stopped the Noah Cates<\/a> line \u2014 probably the Flyers\u2019 best forecheck trio, which usually has an energetic opening shift \u2014 from getting anything going.<\/p>\n

It set the tone for the night.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, York called the low-event night against the Jets, with its limited attempts, shots on goal, and even chances, a \u201cboring game.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re on the road, we preach having a good road game,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know that the home team is going to come out hard and aggressive and have a strong push, and [the road team will] make it as boring of a game as possible, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added captain Sean Couturier<\/a>: \u201c[Winnipeg] sucked the wind out of the building. Honestly, there were no emotions, and I think you can tell we were getting frustrated; fans were getting frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Flyers takeaways: Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov get going but turnovers prove fatal vs. the Jets<\/a><\/p>\n

The keys to a good road game are starting to sound like a checklist: Keep it simple and low scoring; stay out of the penalty box and not give them free offense. In general, \u201cdon\u2019t give them any opportunities, any freebies,\u201d said Travis Konecny<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re almost waiting waiting waiting instead of trying to force things,\u201d Tippett added. <\/p>\n

So what is the counter for home teams like the Flyers on Saturday night?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou dictate play,\u201d said coach Rick Tocchet<\/a>. \u201cEverybody has to play somewhat in structure. I mean, there\u2019s creativity you want, but everybody\u2019s got [to be] a little more predictable, everyone\u2019s got to know where the puck goes, a little more speed. … We\u2019ve got to get to our game right from after the national anthem, not after 20 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added York: \u201cI think if we can instill into their minds that it\u2019s going to be a long night for them right from the start, that\u2019s going to benefit us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prospects flying<\/p>\n

Five Flyers prospects faced off on Friday night in Boston, with Porter Martone<\/a>, Shane Vansaghi, and Michigan State beating Jack Murtagh, Owen McLaughlin, Carter Amico, and Boston University, 4-2. According to the telecast, president Keith Jones<\/a>, general manager Danny Bri\u00e8re<\/a>, director of player development Riley Armstrong, and special advisors to hockey operations John LeClair and Patrick Sharp were in attendance. <\/p>\n

Martone, the sixth-overall pick in June, is still looking for his first NCAA goal but had five shot attempts on Friday, including an absolute snipe off the pipe in the third period. He also had 14 penalty minutes, which included a 10-minute misconduct when he was called for roughing late in the game.<\/p>\n

Vansaghi led the way as he consistently controlled the boards, was strong on the puck, and drove to the net. He had a game-high 10 shot attempts and tied teammate Maxim Strb\u00e1k with six shots on goal, including one that found the back of the net.<\/p>\n

As for the Boston trio, McLaughlin, who hails from Spring City in Chester County<\/a>, was all over the ice and often mentioned on the ESPN2 telecast. Coach Jay Pandolfo put the North Dakota transfer back at center, and he was on the first power-play unit. <\/p>\n

Amico is back in action after suffering a fractured kneecap that required two surgeries to be corrected early last season with the United States National Team Development Program and had a plus-minus of minus-1. And Murtagh had the biggest night for the Terrier trio, notching an assist on Sascha Boumedienne\u2019s power-play goal.<\/p>\n

They all meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).<\/p>\n

\u00bb READ MORE: Boston University is the No. 1 team in college hockey. A trio of Flyers prospects are a big reason why<\/a><\/p>\n

Breakaways<\/p>\n

Dan Vlada\u0159 gets the start in net as the Flyers continue to rotate goalies. … The Flyers had some switches to the lines during morning skate \u2014 some of the time. Before they skated on the usual lines, it appeared that Couturier and Konecny now had Bobby Brink<\/a> with them, and Matvei Michkov<\/a> was skating with Cates and Tyson Foerster<\/a>. Asked about it in his media availability, Tocchet asked: \u201cWho broke it up?\u201d He then added, \u201cNo. Maybe they screwed up or something,\u201d with a smile before jokingly bringing up the old-school tactic that, \u201cIt was a smokescreen. Hopefully, Minnesota saw that.\u201d … Forwards Jett Luchanko<\/a> and Nikita Grebenkin, and defenseman Adam Ginning are out with Rodrigo \u0100bols, Nic Deslauriers, and Egor Zamula in for them, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Standing in the locker room at Xfinity Mobile Arena after the Flyers\u2019 loss, defenseman Cam York said of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[76659,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-458026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-cam-york-owen-tippett-jets-loss-back-to-back-homestand-minnesota-wild","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115399081738820745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}