Just when it looked like the Philadelphia Flyers were back on track after snapping a six-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on Monday, they came crashing back down.
On Wednesday, the Flyers fell prey to the Utah Mammoth via overtime to the tune of a 5-4 score at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Philadelphia head coach Rick Tocchet was far from amused by his team’s poor finish in what should have been the Flyers’ 24th win in the 2025-26 NHL season.
“We had good parts of [the game], but that’s unacceptable what happened tonight,” Tocchet said, via Matt Komma of NHL.com.
“We sunk in pressure situations, something that we’ve got to get out of this team, right? You’ve got to rise to the occasion. You’ve got to want to be out there in pressure situations. A couple of guys sunk in certain situations, so it’s the bottom line. We’ve got to recover from it.”
It started well for Tocchet’s squad, as the Flyers had a 2-0 lead after the first period. They went up 3-0 after a goal by Bobby Brink on the power play just a minute into the second period. Utah responded with back-to-back goals from JJ Peterka and Lawson Crouse before Christian Dvorak found the back of the net with another Philly goal in the man advantage.
Holding a 4-2 lead heading into the third frame, the Flyers looked primed to notch their second win in a row.
Instead, the wheels fell off for them, as the Mammoth scored a pair of goals in the third period while blanking their visitors to tie the score at 4-4 and force overtime.
Clayton Keller completed the comeback for Utah with a game-winning goal off an assist from Dylan Guenther.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! 🤯
— NHL (@NHL) January 22, 2026
Clayton Keller wins it for the @utahmammoth in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/5knpVtJncY
Philadelphia is now tied for second in the league for most overtime losses despite leading after the first period, as the Flyers have three such defeats, thus far in the campaign.
