{"id":404744,"date":"2026-01-13T06:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/404744\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T06:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T06:11:08","slug":"flyers-postgame-blog-team-needs-more-from-their-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/404744\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyers Postgame Blog: Team Needs More from Their Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh, where to begin when talking about the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night? There was so much going on. <\/p>\n

Early in the game, like 1:10 into the game, the Lightning grabbed hold of the game with a fluke goal, yet it is one that Dan Vladar is going to want back. The Flyers looked good early in the game, but could not scrap back into it. <\/p>\n

Just like the first meeting in Philadelphia, everything just unravelled for the Flyers in the second half of the game. What once looked promising became a trouncing, and for the second time in as many games vs. the Lightning, the Flyers were embarrassed on their home ice. <\/p>\n

There are so many different ways to point blame in this one. It was the perfect storm of things gone wrong for Philadelphia, both in their control and out of it. <\/p>\n

Dan Vladar did not have his best stuff on Monday, plain and simple. Once again, the Flyers were too loose with the puck, making careless mistakes. They seemed afraid to shoot the puck. While a good bit of it was sticking up for teammates or even just weak penalty calls, there was a lack of discipline. Special teams were a soft spot once again, allowing two power-play goals, while the Flyers\u2019 own power play looked lifeless. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t what lost them the game, but the officiating was brutal. There were soft calls, no calls, and stepping in at the wrong moments \u2013 just an all-around mess. <\/p>\n

Still, none of that compares to the most concerning issue: the team\u2019s biggest stars have gone quiet. <\/p>\n

Read More: Flyers Overpowered in Chaotic Monday Night Matchup vs. Lightning<\/a><\/p>\n

Flyers need more from their biggest stars<\/p>\n

Since December 1st, Matvei Michkov has just one goal and has not beaten a goaltender since November 29th. Trevor Zegras has been pointless in five of his last six games. Owen Tippett is pointless in four of the last six games. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s face it. [The Lightning\u2019s] best players are very good. They\u2019re on the scoresheet. There is a level that we have to find some of our [best] guys to get to, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to try and get to every day,\u201d said Flyers\u2019 head coach Rick Tocchet after the game on Monday. <\/p>\n

After the game, Tocchet recognized Michkov\u2019s scoring drought. The Flyers\u2019 bench boss said, \u201cHe\u2019s trying. I\u2019d like to see him separate himself in the corners; he\u2019s easily checked\u2026 It looks like he\u2019s just stuck in the mud sometimes, and we\u2019ve got to get him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Flyers\u2019 21-year-old phenom has not scored a goal since his empty netter on December 22nd, and has not beaten a goaltender since his two-game game vs. the Devils on November 29th, and has just 9 points since December 1st. <\/p>\n

Michkov is not the only star that has gone quiet. With the exception of his revenge game vs. the Anaheim Ducks, Trevor Zegras has been very quiet. The Flyers\u2019 forward has been pointless since the first period of that game vs. the Ducks, and was kept off the score sheet for the two games prior. <\/p>\n

In fact, since his 9-game point streak (5G, 11P) ended, Zegras has points in just two of the last eight games, totaling four points. You can see how important he is to the Flyers by their record when he\u2019s not scoring. In games where Zegras is off the score sheet, the Flyers are 1-4-1 in the last six games where he does not register a point.<\/p>\n

The power play is another area Tocchet pointed out after Monday\u2019s loss. Tocchet mentioned the Flyers looked nervous. You could see players just did not want to shoot, including Owen Tippett, who passed on a couple of good chances. <\/p>\n

If you watch him play, Tippett has been phenomenal lately. He has been skating with so much power and speed, he\u2019s just not getting the production his play deserves. Tippett has such a good shot; we saw it with his goal on Saturday. He just has to let loose and use it more. <\/p>\n

The Flyers need to get out of this skid, especially with an important stretch of games against teams they will be fighting for a playoff spot come April. If the Flyers want to get back in the win column, they need more from their biggest stars. <\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0Flyers Trade Talk: Who Could be in Play for Rasmus Ristolainen<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oh, where to begin when talking about the Philadelphia Flyers\u2019 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[2210,233,5292,1739,58,46460,5,509,4,4837,56,4185],"class_list":{"0":"post-404744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim-ducks","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-ducks","10":"tag-anaheimducks","11":"tag-ducks","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-flyers-postgame-blog","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-matvei-michkov","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-owen-tippett","18":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","19":"tag-trevor-zegras"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115886311675482188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}