Rick Tocchet didn't protect Jamie Drysdale or the Philadelphia Flyers after their 7-0 opening-night loss to Pittsburgh.
The head coach watched Philadelphia unravel in its own zone, lose puck battles and hand Pittsburgh repeated opportunities. His postgame message was aimed directly at the details his players abandoned.
"Since I've been here, it's the worst D-zone I've ever seen."
"There were alarming things out there," Tocchet said. He added that he couldn't recall the Flyers winning a battle all night. NBC Sports Philadelphia
Drysdale was caught on one of the clearest breakdowns. He lost a neutral-zone puck battle before Hendrix Lapierre broke free and pushed Pittsburgh's lead to 4-0.
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Drysdale finished with a -3 rating in 17:21 of ice time. For a defenseman expected to help move pucks cleanly, that sequence fit exactly what had Tocchet frustrated.
Rasmus Ristolainen, Porter Martone and Owen Tippett were also involved in a damaging first-period line change, while Trevor Zegras had to circle back as Pittsburgh attacked the open ice.
Tocchet puts Flyers' details under the microscope
That breakdown ended with Ville Koivunen beating Dan Vladar. It wasn't an isolated mistake, either. Tocchet saw the same lack of structure continue once the game was already slipping away.
"When we were down 4-0, even some plays we were making, just disturbing plays," Tocchet said. He called it the worst defensive-zone performance he'd seen since taking over Philadelphia.
The Flyers allowed 38 shots while generating only 19 themselves. They also went 0-for-3 on the power play, giving Tocchet problems at both ends of the rink.
Vladar wasn't given a pass, but Tocchet noted that his goaltender had barely played during the preseason because of an upper-body injury.
Travis Konecny pointed the responsibility back toward the skaters, saying Philadelphia's forwards put both the defense and Vladar in difficult positions.
That matters because Tocchet's criticism wasn't aimed at one bad bounce or one struggling goalie. The breakdowns ran through Philadelphia's lineup, from puck battles to changes to defensive-zone coverage.
And after a 7-0 opening-night loss, those individual mistakes are now sitting directly under Tocchet's microscope.
Should Rick Tocchet make lineup changes after the Flyers' 7-0 loss?
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