Rick Tocchet goes back to Vancouver with heat rising

Rick Tocchet takes the Flyers back to Vancouver tonight with just 4 wins through 19 games, Grady Sas noted this morning.

Philadelphia is 4-10-5, 29th in the NHL, and has lost three straight. Tocchet coached in Vancouver before, and he returns facing a Canucks team that sits 32nd at 3-15-1 and has lost five in a row.

Sas made the win total the headline of this homecoming, with Tocchet now in Year 2 behind the Flyers' bench.

The heat is aimed at how Tocchet handled the end of Sunday's 4-3 overtime loss in Calgary. Brendan Sommermann pushed back on the criticism, while saying he isn't defending the coach because it has become a trend over the last three games, and laid out the shift data for the final 10:48 plus overtime.

Matvei Michkov got three shifts for 2:35 in that stretch and one in overtime. Denver Barkey logged 1:24, Cole Knuble 2:06 and Porter Martone 2:04.

Tocchet himself said this morning that the players he is most frustrated with are the young vets. We looked at Tocchet's message to the young vets earlier today, and the Flyers' own account shared his words.

Is Tocchet's bench management really the problem?

Only partly, and the road record tells you why. The Flyers are 1-6-2 away from home, and tonight starts another stretch where they have to prove they can win in someone else's building.

Games like Sunday's keep repeating. The Flyers have lost nine of their ten one-goal games, a 1-4-5 mark, and they blew three leads in Calgary alone.

The shift sheet doesn't show a coach burying his kids. Michkov, who leads the team in goals with 10, played 16:27 on Sunday, and Martone was on for 16:36. What the sheet does show is a team that can't hold a lead, and no ice-time chart fixes that.

Still, Michkov's ice time will stay a talking point while he sits at minus-11. A bad night against the league's last-place team would turn the volume up even more.

Joseph Woll is set to start in goal tonight, and the Flyers need a win in Vancouver before the questions about Tocchet's bench get any louder.

Quick hits

WINNIPEG JETSJosh Morrissey is skating in a regular jersey at practice today, Connor Hrabchak reported. That is a step in the right direction for Winnipeg's blue line.

OTTAWA SENATORSRidly Greig is back on the ice with the main group at Monday's practice, according to Andrew Wilimek. Good timing with Winnipeg next.

NEW YORK RANGERSRookie Alberts Smits is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Mollie Walker reported, hours before the Rangers face the Oilers.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSKevin Korchinski looks to be on the outside again in practice lines Monday, per Charlie Roumeliotis and Scott Powers. His spot is worth watching.

WASHINGTON CAPITALSSpencer Carbery is sticking with the same group at practice, Alex Tuch's line included, Tarik El-Bashir reports. Stability for Washington.