Flyers 'still in a good spot' entering Game 6 of Eastern 1st Round

Sean Couturier said if someone had told him before the Eastern Conference First Round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins began his, Philadelphia Flyers would be coming home with a 3-2 series lead, he'd have taken it.

Despite losing two straight games after taking a 3-0 series lead, that's where the Flyers find themselves heading into Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, SN-PIT, truTV, TNT, NBCSP, SN360, TVAS).

"A lot of people didn't really even pick us to win," Couturier said. "We're still in a good spot. I think we can learn a thing or two from the last two games, or even the whole series. ... We feel good about our team, about our game. There's a few things we can clean up, but we've responded well all year after one or two losses. So just looking for a big response tomorrow night."

The Flyers showed during the regular season they could generate the proper response after a rough game. They were 23-8-6 after a loss during the regular season, including 7-1-0 after the break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. They haven't lost three straight games since a four-game skid from Jan. 26-31.

"Things happen and I think we've done a good job all year," forward Christian Dvorak said. "We haven't gone on big losing streaks or anything like that. We've turned the page, learned from our mistakes, and moved on and got better from it. So I think that's what we're going to do. We're going to go over some video today and learn some things, and just try to apply that for tomorrow. I think we'll have a good response."

To achieve that response, the Flyers understand there are certain areas of their game they can be better at. Among them is getting back to being more aggressive through the neutral zone and on the forecheck. Coach Rick Tocchet said he's seen his players fall into a propensity of flipping the puck into the offensive zone rather than carry it in and create with speed, which they were doing more of the first three games to create gaps in the Penguins' defensive structure.

He pointed to a Trevor Zegras rush chance in the final minute of the first period in Game 5 as more of the plays they need to make. The play started with Jamie Drysdale exiting the defensive zone and skating through center ice with speed, finding Owen Tippett at the Penguins blue line, and Tippett centering it for Zegras driving alone through the middle of the offensive zone. 

"I felt sometimes when we had the puck and instead of grabbing ice, coming back with speed, going through the neutral zone ... Trevor's breakaway, if you look, it was three or four passes before he got the breakaway," Tocchet said. "That's what we got to start to look for, that kind of play, instead of just flipping it out. We get in that mode sometimes, and we got to get in the mode of wanting to make the play, and the guy without the puck wanting the puck. I think that's something that we can get better at."

While the Penguins have made adjustments to close lanes and preclude the Flyers from getting the kind of rush opportunities they had during the first three games, Tocchet said it's more about players having the will to make the correct plays.

"They've adjusted ... but there's some stuff there we're not doing that we can expose them," he said. "I'm not going to get into that part, but there's a lot of skating and being at and wanting the puck. There's got to be a little bit more want and determination, and you'll get those pucks. I don't think it's an X's and O's (issue), it's a determination on some of these plays to wanting that puck that I think we can get better at."

The Flyers feel the mental side of the game has been more of an issue than the physical side the past two games. Bad line changes, lost wall battles, missed opportunities to clear pucks out of the defensive zone and missed nets in the offensive zone -- self-inflicted wounds -- have been more of an issue than anything the Penguins are doing against them.

"I just felt the last two games, we were a little bit too comfortable," Tocchet said. "We weren't finishing checks like we did. We weren't getting open for the guy. The fundamentals have been a little bit iffy."

With a day to reset, the Flyers can fall back on the fact that they have the series lead and a chance to eliminate the Penguins on home ice.

"I think we still just have a great opportunity ahead of us here tomorrow," Dvorak said. "We're still in a good spot, still up in the series, and have a chance to close out at home here tomorrow. We still got to stay positive. We're in a good spot here. Every game's been pretty close here, so we just got to stick with it and just put our best foot forward tomorrow."