Tocchet: Flyers weren’t ‘mentally prepared’ for Hurricanes

philadelphia flyers Coach Rick Tocchet said his team was not “mentally prepared” during the Game 1 loss. carolina storm on Saturday night.

Hurricanes win their fifth consecutive postseason game 3-0 shutout Over the Flyers, who reached the second round after being eliminated for the first time since 2020 pittsburgh penguins In six games.

Tocquet said the excitement from Wednesday night’s overtime win against their rivals in Game 6 may have negatively impacted their focus on Game 1 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“I don’t know if we were mentally prepared to play tonight. Winning our playoff series, [almost] Not making the playoffs… there was a lot of excitement. I don’t think we got on the field that early for this game. And then, that’s what happens: Your legs aren’t there,” he said. “We didn’t make any plays.”

That seemed to be the case for Philadelphia in the first period. The Hurricanes had more shot attempts (20-10) and shots on goal (12-4), and took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room thanks to goals. logan stankoven And jackson blake.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “We got off to a good start. That’s what won the game. After that, nothing much happened.”

The Hurricanes played their trademark style of suffocating defense and spectacular penalty killing, as the Flyers went 0-4 on the power play.

Tocchet said, “It’s a good baptism of fire for some of our players on how to play. We’ve got to play with some quickness and reaction time.”

Impact on Flyers’ offense before game as forward Owen Tippett Did not play due to undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day. Although he only had one goal and one assist in six playoff games, Tippett led the Flyers with 28 goals in the regular season.

The Hurricanes became the eighth team in the last 50 years to score a combined five or fewer goals in their first five postseason contests.

When asked if it was a step up in competition, Tocquet said, “The Penguins were a good hockey team. Carolina was good, too. They played well. We didn’t play well.” “I don’t think we gave them anything to worry about in the first half of the game.”

The Hurricanes will host Game 2 on Monday.