John Tortorella addressed the media following the Flyers’ 3-2 victory over the Penguins.
The Flyers won't have to live with a lengthy losing streak over the next two weeks.
They beat the Penguins, 3-2, Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Scott Laughton, Garnet Hathaway and Travis Konecny provided the team's goals.
Hathaway's marker gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at second intermission. It came off hustle and a funny bounce as the hard-nosed winger forced Pittsburgh goaltender Joel Blomqvist to leave his net for a puck race.
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Konecny gave the Flyers insurance on a delayed penalty in the third period.
The Flyers (24-26-7) halted a five-game skid before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
"I think it was a big one for sure," Samuel Ersson said. "Just to kind of get a little bit of swagger back in our group."
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Prior to this win, John Tortorella's club had dropped seven of its last eight games (1-6-1). It should have a number of reinforcements on the way after the break (more on that below).
"I want us to take a run at trying to put a run together because other than six, seven, eight teams in this league, it is a .500 league," Tortorella said Friday. "We're below .500 now, but you have a good run, you're right back in the thick of things. That's the way I'm approaching it and I still think we have a lot of meaningful games left."
Konecny agreed.
"You guys have been around here, you know that we don't quit," he said. "We've felt that way the whole year."
Three of the Penguins' top five scorers were out with injuries: Sidney Crosby (upper body), Bryan Rust (lower body) and Evgeni Malkin (lower body). Crosby had a rehab skate in the morning at Flyers Training Center.
Pittsburgh played Friday night, picking up a 3-2 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Flyers are 1-1-0 against the Penguins (23-25-9). The clubs meet twice more, with both matchups later this month.
• After missing three games because of visa and flight issues, Andrei Kuzmenko didn't waste time in his Flyers debut.
The trade acquisition collected an assist on his first shift as Laughton gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 1:44 minutes into the action.
"I like to win 1-on-1 battles," Kuzmenko said. "I like to show my skill and hockey IQ."
The 29-year-old Russian winger is auditioning after coming to the Flyers in the deal last week with the Flames. He's a pending unrestricted free agent with natural offensive ability.
"Goal scoring," Tortorella said at morning skate, "it's certainly something we need."
Kuzmenko was good Saturday night.
"Very talented," Tortorella said. "You can see his skill, he can skate, has an enthusiasm about him. I played him 18, 19 minutes, he can do some things with the puck. It was a good first game for him."
While Kuzmenko got his first look with the Flyers, Jakob Pelletier did not. The other winger from the trade has practiced but was still unavailable because of paperwork issues. More on that here.
"It's nice to see us get a chance to build guys into our environment here, our group, just integrate them," Hathaway said. "We take a lot of pride in that. It's nice to get that done before the break and then be ready to meet back up after."
• Ersson was once again one of the Flyers' best players, making 31 saves on 33 shots.
The 25-year-old didn't have many blemishes.
"He made some incredible saves," Tortorella said. "We were out-chanced pretty good."
Erik Karlsson beat Ersson on a filthy shot in the second period. Former Flyer Kevin Hayes assisted Anthony Beauvillier's goal in the third period, which cut the Flyers' lead to 3-2.
"Give them credit, they were quicker than us, they were much more determined than us for basically half the game I think," Tortorella said. "But we found a way."
The Flyers blocked 34 shots. Laughton had to shake off a painful one in the second period with a walk up the tunnel.
Ersson has been highly reliable over the last month and a half. He's 9-4-1 with a 2.26 goals-against average and .920 save percentage since the holiday break.
Blomqvist stopped 17 of the Flyers' 20 shots.
• Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Rasmus Ristolainen and Egor Zamula remained out with upper-body injuries. All four have been considered day to day.
Tippett had a rehab skate Saturday morning. In non-contact fashion, Poehling practiced Friday and participated in morning skate Saturday. Ristolainen practiced Friday and participated in morning skate Saturday. Zamula was a non-contact participant at morning skate Saturday.
• The Flyers go 13 days without a game as the NHL holds the 4 Nations Face-Off. Tortorella and four players will represent the Flyers at the tournament.
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