PHILADELPHIA — Rick Tocchet brought a reputation for having a gifted and capable defensive mind with him to Philadelphia. It was that part of the game, in particular, that earned him the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach for 2023-24, when he engineered a remarkable defensive turnaround for his Vancouver Canucks in what was his first full season there.

The Flyers have shown themselves to be quick learners in that regard, sitting at ninth in the league with a 2.79 team goals-against average. Now 11-6-3, they’ve been able to bank points in the standings mostly because of their ability to limit opposing teams, while getting timely saves from new No. 1 goalie Dan Vladar.

Offensively, though, it’s been a process at best, and a real struggle at worst. The Flyers are still working out what Tocchet wants them to do on a consistent basis in the offensive zone. They entered Saturday’s game with the New Jersey Devils ranked 29th in goals per game and 29th in shots. Dry spells have been too frequent.

That’s what made their outburst in a 6-3 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena so surprising. It even included a franchise-record three goals in just 26 seconds in the first period, the fifth-fastest mark in NHL history.

After Timo Meier’s power-play goal gave the Devils a 1-0 lead — the seventh straight game the Flyers have allowed the first goal — Noah Cates tied it at 1-1 at the nine-minute mark of the opening frame. A little more than three minutes later, at 12:06, it was Matvei Michkov’s breakaway score, sprung by Sean Couturier, that gave the Flyers a lead they would keep for the remainder of the evening.

The first of Tyson Foerster’s two goals came just nine seconds after Michkov’s conversion, as he blasted in a one-timer from Cates, and just 17 seconds after that, Foerster’s wrist shot from the top of the circle was flubbed by goalie Jake Allen before dropping in behind him. A second-period toe-drag goal by Bobby Brink and a third-period breakaway by Trevor Zegras capped the Flyers’ scoring, giving them their most goals in regulation this season.

THE FLYERS SCORE THREE IN 26 SECONDS! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/eJQytbwnn0

— NHL (@NHL) November 23, 2025

Still, one game does not a trend make. There are still likely to be growing pains to come for the Flyers offensively, particularly as their schedule starts to ramp up over the next couple of weeks.

The players themselves recognize that. Several have commented on Tocchet’s offensive system being different and more intricate from their past coaches.

Travis Konecny, as important a scorer as the Flyers have on their roster, offered his perspective about that on Friday.

“I’ve never really played, like, a system in the O-zone, which we kind of do,” Konecny said. “At the end of the day, the message is play hockey, but make sure you have guys going to the net, (or) at the net.”

It all requires more thinking on the fly, something Konecny acknowledged he’s still getting the hang of in what is his 10th season in the league.

“I have to work on making the right decisions at certain times in the O-zone when we get possession,” Konecny said. “Instead of throwing it away, I’m always searching for a play, looking for something. Sometimes the best play is to just reset it and try again.”

Said Tocchet: “We changed some stuff around here, for them to buy in and take that information. It’s hard. We’re throwing a lot of stuff at these guys.”

Whether this Flyers season will ultimately be deemed a successful one could depend on how quickly they do — or don’t — figure out what Tocchet wants from them offensively on a nightly basis. The schedule has been on their side in the early going, as they were the final team in the league to reach 20 games played, combined with what has mostly been a home slate with just seven games on the road. It’s offered Tocchet and his coaching staff ample time to run practices and classroom video sessions.

They won’t have that luxury now. Saturday’s game was their second of eight games in a 14-day stretch that began with Thursday’s 3-2 overtime win at home against St. Louis. They begin a four-game road trip in Tampa Bay on Monday and visit Florida on Wednesday, followed by a back-to-back on Long Island and New Jersey next weekend.

What keyed their attack on Saturday was something that has been lacking from the Flyers for most of this season — chances, and goals, off the rush. For the first two periods, before they got a bit too conservative in the third period, the Flyers controlled the neutral zone, forcing the Devils to back up and defend.

Tocchet attributed that to the Flyers’ defensemen stepping up at the blue line, something that he focused on with them in practice in the early part of the week. In games last weekend in St. Louis and Dallas, he said the team was “too passive backing up.”

The tables were turned against the Devils.

“The D were stepping up great tonight,” Foerster said, “and the forwards were tracking hard.”

Replicating that sort of effort will now be the challenge, as it’s difficult to envision the Flyers staying in the playoff race unless they figure out how to start generating more offense regularly. While Saturday’s win over the Devils looked like a huge step in the right direction, getting just two regulation goals on Thursday in their win over what looks to be a bad Blues team wasn’t all that inspiring, even if they did manage to pull it out in overtime.

From Tocchet’s perspective, it’s unlikely to be something that suddenly clicks into place.

“I can’t expect these guys to get it (just) like that,” he said earlier this week. “I’m telling ya, it’s going to be a work in progress, and we’re going to have some good days and bad days.”

Saturday was a good day, with 10 players recording at least one point, while the Flyers even made a little history, too. At the very least, it’s a game from which they can try to keep building.

“Some good shots, some nice plays,” Tocchet said. “Good start.”

“There’s still work to be done,” Couturier said. “It’s something to build on.”