April 29, 2026
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Wednesday night's Game 6 would be a great time for star rookie Porter Martone to leave another mark on the Flyers' first-round series against the Penguins.
The moments that will, inevitably, arrive with Game 6 later Wednesday night can be defining.
They're the spots where a team needs its best players to rise to the occasion, and for Rick Tocchet, he's hoping that the top guys on his Flyers are ready for it.
After all, they already know, full well, the situation.
"They're aware," Tocchet, the Flyers' head coach, said in the chilling air of Xfinity Mobile Arena following his team's optional morning skate. "I mentioned after last game, not a big deal, I mean, they know. They gotta play better in the sense of – I don't want to say the word desperation, but I think there's a little bit more there to be an impact player. You know, getting inside, or making a play up top, little things like converting on a 2-on-1, things like that. And they know it."
But now they have to step up and do it, because suddenly, there's a lot at stake – there's pressure.
The Flyers will, once again, face the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night for Game 6 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series in South Philadelphia.
The Flyers are leading the series, 3-2. They still only need one more win to clinch the best-of-seven series and advance, and should have the benefit of another electric home crowd behind them, all collectively wanting them to see the team take another step forward.
But, after jumping out to a commanding, and a bit of a surprising, 3-0 series lead, they've since dropped the past two games. Pittsburgh has gotten back in it, and to the outside, has seeded some concern that it could rally fully back, with the veteran Penguins core led by Sidney Crosby having managed to flip the switch to them as the more aggressive, quicker, and tougher team.
That was plain to see Monday night with Game 5 over in Pittsburgh.
The Flyers weren't ever fully out of it, but they clearly weren't at their best, often failing to get clears out of their zone, or struggling to get clear shots on that challenged Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs, whose switch in for regular starter Stuart Skinner coincided with Pittsburgh's recent shift in momentum.
The Flyers lost, 3-2, and left Pittsburgh seemingly on their heels.
They are still leading the series, though. "We're in a good spot," center Noah Cates said after Wednesday morning's skate.
Because, really, all it takes is one moment.
But the Flyers' best have to be ready for it.
Matvei Michkov is expected to be back in the lineup for Game 6, and the Flyers need him to step up now more than ever.
Cates, for example, has to help set a faster tempo for the Flyers' forecheck again. It seemed to ease up across Games 4 and 5, but as one of Philadelphia's better two-way checking forwards, the center can leave his mark on the series by relentlessly getting after Pittsburgh's breakouts of the puck.
Matvei Michkov can shift the narrative of his series, too. The prized young forward just hadn't been noticeable through the first four games, and sat for Game 5 so that Alex Bump could slide into the lineup for more size and strength.
Mickov, however, was back out skating Wednesday morning, and came off with the regulars to indicate that he'll be getting right back into the fray. Some offense now for the skilled and creative winger would be huge.
"Our forecheck has been just OK the last couple games," Tocchet said. "I think that's something, and you can group them into our team play: Better on the forecheck, faster, getting more chaos, disruption. We're chasing behind the net a lot."
And they weren't getting to the front of it consistently enough when they had the puck either.
The Flyers had just 20 registered shots on goal in Monday's Game 5 loss, with a whole lot more attempts that either hit into Pittsburgh shin pads, went wide of the net entirely, or simply got tossed on from a spot that was never going to be enough to seriously challenge Silovs, who has done notably well to take the lower half of the net away with legs.
So getting to the top of the Penguins' crease, and in the way of Silovs' vision, is going to be a priority for the Flyers heading into Game 6.
Their more sizable, shoot-first power forwards in Bump, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster (who badly needs a spark this series), rising star rookie Porter Martone, and even undersized rookie winger Denver Barkey (who has still shown the tenacity to fight and set up a screen) can make a major impact here.
"Like any goalie, [Silovs] is no different than anybody. You want to get people in front of him and take his eyes away," Tocchet explained. "That's the number one thing coaching the playoffs, and those are the most goals scored in the playoffs, is anything around that crease.
"That's determination to get there."
And very well could be the setup for the big moment that defines these still-developing Flyers.
Philadelphia has, after all, seen it happen before.
Go back just more than 14 years ago, and the 2012 Flyers were entering their Game 6 against the Penguins and a younger Crosby in the first round. They sprinted out to a 3-0 series lead, then fell to 3-2 over the next two to plant much of the same concern among fans back then that has floated around a bit this past week.
But then the first puck dropped. Claude Giroux crushed Crosby with a check in the open ice that got the entire building to roar, then, after a turn up the ice, he dragged a shot that bulleted over the shoulder of Marc-Andre Fleury, which sent the arena into a frenzy and kick-started a 5-1 rout that sent the Flyers on their way.
In the process, Giroux cemented himself as the next captain and the face of the franchise for a decade to come. The defining moment came, and he was ready for it.
Now these Flyers have to be for their own Game 6, all these years later, on Wednesday night.
They have to be.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
