After a brief stretch of success, the Philadelphia Flyers are mired in another losing streak.
The Flyers hope to avoid a fourth straight defeat Sunday when they host the Utah Mammoth, who are seeking a bit of consistency themselves.
Philadelphia opened the season with nine straight losses (0-6-3) before rattling off three consecutive wins. However, the team has dropped each of its last three contests (0-2-1), allowing 14 goals in the process.
Following Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals, captain Sean Couturier was rather blunt about the team’s effort in the early portions of the season.
“At times this year, we’re soft, I would say,” Couturier said. “Not hard on battles and lose battles easily. It’s one thing to make mistakes and not win a battle, but if you’re in there trying hard and stuff, that’s different. But, yeah, we definitely need to pick up our physicality.”
Trevor Zegras has been a bright spot of late with three goals and seven assists during a six-game point streak. As a team, though, the Flyers have scored more than three goals only once in their first 15 games.
The Flyers discussed these topics as a team in recent days in advance of their matchup with the Mammoth.
“Everyone has each other’s backs,” Philadelphia defenseman Nick Seeler said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t address some issues. That’s what being men and adults in a very competitive sport, sometimes you have to do that. The Flyers are a family, we’re in this together, so we’re going to get out of it together.”
Utah has alternated wins and losses in each of its last seven games. Most recently, the Mammoth nipped the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in overtime on Thursday in one of the wildest games of the NHL season.
The Penguins went ahead 3-2 with 25 seconds left in regulation before Pittsburgh native Logan Cooley capped a hat trick with one second remaining. That sent the game to overtime, where Mikhail Sergachev netted the decisive tally off a rebound in front.
“He’s one of our top players who’s supposed to be doing that,” Sergachev said of Cooley. “But I’m happy for him. He had a bit of a slow start, but he’s going to show everyone what kind of player he is. … When he puts it all together, he’s what he is tonight.”
Sebastian Cossa stopped 31 shots for Utah, which has not lost back-to-back games all season.
“He was unbelievable,” Cooley said of the Mammoth goaltender. “… Just how competitive he is. How hard he works in practice. He’s still so young. I think he’s going to be an unbelievable goalie in this league for a long time. We’re fortunate to have him.”
Sergachev and captain Clayton Keller each have four goals and 12 assists on the season, tying them for the team lead with 16 points. Cooley is right behind with 15 points, while Nick Schmaltz has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists), although he has only scored once in the last eight contests.
The Mammoth have won all four meetings with the Flyers since moving to Utah. They pitched a 3-0 shutout in last season’s matchup in Philadelphia.