The Flyers showed some resolve Tuesday night after relinquishing a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n
They didn’t unravel and went on to beat the Capitals, 4-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n
Owen Tippett, Carl Grundstrom, Jamie Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen provided the Flyers’ goals. Drysdale’s marker came on the power play and was the game-winner with 5:23 minutes left in the third period.<\/p>\n
Ristolainen iced the game with an empty-netter.<\/p>\n
“That’s a huge bounce-back game,” Tippett said. “The message was finish the game out and don’t let kind of old habits creep in. I think we stuck with it all the way through and I’m glad we got the win.”<\/p>\n
The Flyers (25-20-10) snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) and stopped the bleeding from a stretch in which they had dropped 11 of 13 games (2-8-3).<\/p>\n
Rick Tocchet said the Flyers had a “really good practice” Monday. He was hoping it would translate to Tuesday night. Prior to that practice, the Flyers closed out January with 10 games \u2014 seven on the road \u2014 in 18 days.<\/p>\n
“A lot of young guys, when they don’t get practice time, it’s tough,” Tocchet said at morning skate. “Veteran teams, you don’t have to practice as much. But I always felt with the younger guys, they need the touches, they need to actually touch it and feel it. Video can only do so much.”<\/p>\n
It looked like the practice paid off for the Flyers, who were in dire need of a win.<\/p>\n
“I just thought we had more energy,” Travis Sanheim said. “We came out, you could tell, we were playing fast, had some pace. Just had more jump and that was kind of what we talked about before the game.”<\/p>\n
This was the first of four matchups this season between the Flyers and Capitals (28-23-7).<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat a start for the Flyers on Tuesday night against the Capitals. Owen Tippett scored his 19th goal of the season on a sweet move in front of the net.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u2022 About 25 minutes before puck drop, Danny Briere threw some cold water on the smoke surrounding his head coach and prized youngster.<\/p>\n
Some noise had heightened recently<\/a> about Tocchet’s handling of Matvei Michkov’s development, as well as the 21-year-old winger’s conditioning coming into training camp. Michkov’s scoring and minutes are down from last season, when he had a dynamic rookie year<\/a>.<\/p>\n “One thing I can tell you, first of all, is Matvei Michkov is not going anywhere,” Briere said. “Let’s make that clear. Matvei is going to be here for a long time, he’s going to be a good player here for the Flyers. What he’s going through right now is all part of the learning process.”<\/p>\n The Flyers’ general manager expressed confidence in this all working long term.<\/p>\n “I talk to Rick Tocchet on a daily basis, he wants Matvei to succeed,” Briere said. “He wants to develop him to be the best player he can be. Along the way, there are tough lessons that come with that.<\/p>\n “Him and Matvei, they have a good relationship. Sometimes they’re fiery, sometimes when you’re not winning, things are done and said, but they always come back to the table and they want the best for this team, and Rick wants the best for Matvei.”<\/p>\n Not even six minutes into the game, Michkov executed an excellent read and pass to notch a secondary assist on Tippett’s goal, which opened the scoring.<\/p>\n “It was a hell of a pass,” Tocchet said.<\/p>\n Michkov finished with 15:54 minutes after playing a season-low 10:21 three days ago.<\/p>\n More: Briere sees ‘good lesson’ for Michkov, says Tocchet ‘wants to make it work’<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFlyers general manager Danny Briere spoke to the media before Tuesday’s game to address Rick Tocchet’s recent criticism of Matvei Michkov.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u2022 With just one game left before the Olympic break, the Flyers now have a little bit of momentum.<\/p>\n “Just one piece of the puzzle,” Dan Vladar said of the win. “We still know we’ve got 27 games left. Not going to get too high from this, still keep grinding.”<\/p>\n The Flyers came into Tuesday with an 11.1 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to\u00a0Hockey-Reference.com’s probabilities report<\/a>. They’re seven points back of the third-place Islanders in a tight Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n Tocchet’s club has played fewer games than New York and Washington, two of the teams it’s chasing.<\/p>\n “It’s tough to win hockey games in this league,” Drysdale said. “We did a good job at the start of the year and we’re looking to get back on track.”<\/p>\n