Rick Tocchet's blue line faces a reckoning in Calgary

The Flyers get a chance to stop the bleeding tonight at Calgary, and the numbers on their blue line say where the fix has to start.

Philadelphia sits 30th in the NHL at 4-10-4, with 61 goals against and a -22 goal differential. Those team totals come straight from the back end, and the individual plus-minus ratings show who is taking the heat.

Cam York is at -9 in just 10 games, the worst rating on the roster's defense group. Travis Sanheim is at -6 in 18 games, and Oliver Bonk is at -8 in 12.

That's a lot of red for a trio that logs heavy minutes, and Rick Tocchet knows it.

Who is carrying the Flyers defense?

Two names stand out for the right reasons. Jamie Drysdale and Nick Seeler are both at +1 through 18 games, the only defensemen in this group on the positive side.

Drysdale has 8 points, including two power-play assists, so he is contributing at both ends. Seeler has 4 points and a short-handed assist, and his rating at 33 years old suggests he is doing the unglamorous work well.

The bottom of the group is a mix of veterans and young players who are struggling. Simon Benoit is at -4 in 13 games, and David Jiricek is at -3 in nine.

We covered Tocchet putting Jiricek on notice earlier this season, and a minus-3 over nine games, with one point, shows why the coach wants more.

The Flyers' total of 61 goals against is the number that hurts, and it lines up with the ratings above. Bonk, a first-round pick in 2023, has 6 points in 12 games, so the offense from the back end is there. The defending is the issue.

Sanheim is the one that should worry the Flyers most. He is the veteran on this blue line, and a -6 is not what you expect from a defenseman who has played 678 NHL games.

Tocchet has options in how he pairs these six. Putting Drysdale or Seeler next to a struggling partner is the simplest way to stabilize a pair, and the plus-minus numbers make a strong case for it. Keeping York and Bonk together, if that is happening, would be a mistake.

The same goes for how the group has fared on the trip so far.

Calgary is 7-9-1 and lost its last two, so the Flames are not exactly a juggernaut. Philadelphia is coming off a 3-2 loss at the Rangers on Thursday, another game where a lead got away.

The Flyers need a clean game from the back end tonight. If Tocchet shakes up his pairings in Calgary, we will know quickly whether the blue line is listening.

Quick hits

OTTAWA SENATORSEleven wins in 18 games and they keep stacking points even with Eklund, Ullmark and Sanderson out for long stretches. Nick Cousins scored with 2:15 left in a 4-2 win over Utah. That's real depth, and I love it.

COLORADO AVALANCHEMartin Necas kept it simple after the 4-0 win over the Red Wings: special teams get them going. Hard to argue with that. When the power play and penalty kill are humming, this team is tough to deal with.

LOS ANGELES KINGSAlex Laferriere told Zach Dooley the Kings weren't ready for Pittsburgh on Saturday night and put it squarely on the players. Respect for owning it. Now the response is what matters.

INJURYRyan Nugent-Hopkins went to the dressing room early in the second period after taking a puck up high, and the Oilers haven't given an update yet. Any time a puck hits up high, you hold your breath. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious.

UTAH MAMMOTHNick Cousins strikes again in Ottawa. He scored the game-winner as Utah fell 4-2 to the Senators. A tough way to lose, and Cousins clearly enjoys playing the spoiler against them.