VOORHEES TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The Philadelphia Flyers have made it impossible to forget just how improbable their ascent seemed, and just how strong their belief in their own potential was. The underdog squad, which holds a dominant 3-0 series lead over the veteran Pittsburgh Penguins, literally wears it on their sleeve.
Each time Flyers players have come to the podium in the aftermath of their three Round 1 wins, they’ve donned the same post-game T-shirt. On the front, there’s an image of the late Bernie Parent’s unforgettable white mask, with the word ‘Believe’ right below. And on the left sleeve, in white lettering, “3.8%” — the odds of the Flyers making the post-season a month before Round 1 arrived.
It’s been a roller-coaster year for Philadelphia. Rewind further than a month, back to the league’s Olympic break in February, and the Flyers looked finished. The club went into the break having lost 12 of 15 games. They sat buried in the East, closer to the basement than the post-season. But coming out of the Olympic pause, Rick Tocchet’s squad caught fire.
They won 10 of 15 in March, moving to within a stone’s throw of a wild-card spot, before closing out the season with six wins through in April tilts to clinch No. 3 in the Metropolitan Division and their first playoff berth in a half-decade.
The Flyers closed a gap of nine points over the season’s final month to earn that playoff ticket, becoming the first team in NHL history to erase that hefty a point deficit that late in the season. And the W’s didn’t come easy. They were hard-fought, hard-earned triumphs against some of the league’s best — Philly took down Minnesota on the road in early March, Dallas at home later that month, and two of the East’s best in Carolina and Montreal to close out their regular season.
From afar, it seemed a wild, pin-drop turnaround, from a club that seemed lost in the wilderness to a freight train rolling through the rest of the league. But for those in the room, it was simply a course correction, back to where they thought they belonged all along.
“We never thought we were out of it. We always thought we had a chance,” Flyers defender Jamie Drysdale told Sportsnet on Thursday from the team’s practice facility. Asked what it was that allowed the group to flip the switch and start stacking wins, the blue-liner said there was simply no other option.
“I think it was honestly just realizing that we knew we needed to get hot, and we knew we needed to play a certain way in order to consistently do that,” Drysdale said. “Because it’s not like we needed to go win three games in a row or whatever — we needed to win the better part of the last 20, 25.”
It was the team-wide buy-in, particularly over the Olympic break, that shifted things, the understanding that getting something out of the 2025-26 campaign would require an all-in commitment to the type of game Tocchet and his coaching staff were preaching. The team committed, the wins started coming, and they haven’t looked back.
“I think we’ve been playing a similar style over the last 30 games, not just these last three, and I think it’s benefitted us,” Drysdale said. “We’re comfortable in how we’re playing. I think the group just believes.”
Fundamental to that style of play is a vastly improved defensive effort. As pointed out by Adam Vingan earlier this month, prior to the Olympic break, Philadelphia ranked 16th in the league in rush scoring chances-against per 60 minutes, and 12th in odd-man rushes-against per 60 — in the six weeks following the break, they became the league’s best in both categories.
In their own zone, the Flyers focused in on limiting the opposition’s access to the slot, allowing the fourth-fewest slot shots on net and the sixth-fewest slot-driving plays per 60 in the weeks following the break, per Vingan. But they also focused more on stymying opponents before they even got there, the club excelling at clogging up the neutral zone, while remaining aggressive in their transition game, consistently pushing play back into their opponent’s zone.
“As a whole, I think we’ve been defending really well,” said Drysdale. “I think the D, forwards, our goalies, everyone’s been carrying their weight. And I think it’s followed into the first three games here. It’s something we’re going to continue to look to do, because it’s definitely a key to our success — we’ve just got to keep defending hard and the offence will come.”
The club’s defensive approach has worked wonders against the rival Penguins. Pittsburgh entered this first-round bout as one of the most prolific offensive squads in the league, scoring the third-most goals per game during the regular season and icing the seventh-best power play. Through three games, the Pens have managed only four goals, while getting shut out in Game 2.
Sidney Crosby, who over the course of his career has amassed more points against the Flyers organization than any other player in NHL history, has been held to zero goals and a lone assist through three games.
“All year, we’ve tightened things up as the year went on, and played some good defence. It’s part of our identity,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said after the first game of this series. “We’ve been playing some big games for the last month, month-and-a-half. Meaningful games, must-win games. I think we’re up to the test.”
The veteran centreman — who’s taken on a novel fourth-line role in his 14th season with the club as young offensive stars like Trevor Zegras, Owen Tippett and Porter Martone have taken over the top offensive responsibilities — played an essential role in getting the club to buy in to Tocchet’s defensive framework, according to the coach.
“Just the buy-in from training camp — I’m the new guy on the block, so they really helped be an extension, spreading the messages every day,” Tocchet said of veterans Couturier, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim after Philly’s latest win. “Even through the bad times, in January, they held it together. They still believed.
“What I love is they always set the pace in practice — those guys really practise hard. Which is good, because then the young guys watch them practise. That’s something I’m a big believer in. And they’re passing that down to the young guys.”
On the other end of the sheet, the Flyers have undergone an offensive evolution over the latter half of the campaign, too.
While veteran winger Konecny led the club in scoring over the first half of the campaign, coming out of the break it was Matvei Michkov, Noah Cates and Zegras leading the offence, willing Philadelphia into a post-season spot. Then came the arrival of teenage phenom Martone. The 2025 sixth-overall pick caught fire as soon as he arrived in Philly from Michigan State, and hasn’t slowed since — through three games, he ranks as the Flyers’ leading scorer, and sits tied with Evgeni Malkin as the only two players in this series who’ve tallied multiple goals.
After the club’s five-goal outburst in Game 3, Tocchet traced his club’s steady offensive improvement back to the league’s early February break, too.
“When we got those young guys — [Martone], and [Tyson] Foerster back, [Alex Bump] — we had a point of emphasis during the Olympic break, that we’ve got to get more shots on net,” Tocchet said after Wednesday’s win. “If you look at where [Nick] Seeler scored, it’s from the middle of the ice. Sometimes we’re getting a little too wide, so it’s nice to get those kind of shots.”
Also key for the club’s recent success has been when they’re getting their goals.
“I think it’s getting to our game a little quicker,” Tocchet said Wednesday, asked about the club’s propensity since the Olympic break to score first. “Getting a little more aggressive early on, in our game, instead of waiting to see what the other team’s going to do. It’s more what we’re going to do, getting to our identity first.
“We talk about that: Let’s get to our game, let’s not worry about their game.”
The results speak for themselves. Philly’s game has pulled them out of the muck, out of another potential lost season, and into the post-season spotlight — three games in, they find themselves not just a playoff participant, but one win away from an Eastern Conference semifinal. One win away from eliminating a club stocked with Cup winners and Hall of Famers.
For those outside their room, it might seem the early inklings of a Cinderella run of sorts. An unexpected ascent. Not so for the ones authoring the climb.
“We believe in our group,” Couturier said Wednesday night. “We’ve believed in our group all year long. You know, a lot of people counted us out all year, and we stuck to the way we want to play. It’s just the belief in that room. We play for one another.”
“I’ve been saying it for a bit — we have the belief in the room that we can play good hockey,” Konecny echoed earlier in the series. “We’re just trying to stay level-headed and continue to play the same style we’ve been playing, that put us on the run to try to get into the playoffs.
“Just keep sticking to our game, and keep believing in the locker room.”