Flyers coach John Tortorella admits the massive mistake that Scott Laughton made that led to his benching

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Daniel Lucente
November 21, 2024 (2:09 PM)

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Scott Laughton was in John Tortorella's doghouse last game, and he made one very crucial mistake that led to the coach benching him afterward.

Following a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella spoke about Scott Laughton playing just 8:25.

That's his lowest amount of ice time this season, coming off a costly turnover to set up Carolina's opening goal.

According to Tortorella, as one of the team leaders, he is expected to be an example, and his early mistake conflicted with their plan, leading into the game.

«We were talking about playing forward, playing straight ahead, and Laughton turns it over,» he said. «I need him to lead the way. I can't have a Scotty Laughton just turn one over on the first shift after we just spent the whole meeting talking about it," Tortorella added.

- John Tortorella

The Flyers approached the game speaking about a simplistic, defensive-minded approach, and with good reason, as their back end is banged up.

Tortorella seemed bothered that turnovers, like Laughton's on the first shift, undid those efforts.

He spoke to the significance of puck management, particularly against a quick, skilled opponent like Carolina, and made it known no player, status notwithstanding, is above the law in that regard.

Despite a good effort through two periods of play, led by some great goaltending by Ivan Fedotov and solid defensive efforts from Travis Sanheim and Egor Zamula, the Flyers fell flat late.

Ryan Poehling's first-period goal seemed to spur things on, as he tied it 1-1 and gave the Flyers a glimmer of hope.

The third period, however, saw the Hurricanes capitalize on repeated Flyers turnovers, including one from Poehling, to score three quick goals, and ultimately win the game 4-1.

Tortorella gave credit to Carolina's speed and relentless pressure but also emphasized that many of the Flyers' mistakes were self-inflicted and preventable.

Philadelphia wrapped the game with a season-high 25 giveaways, a statistic Tortorella said speaks louder to better puck control.

While he did credit Carolina's disruption in plays, he held firm that the Flyers needed to clean up their execution if they were to compete against top-tier opponents.

Now, the Flyers regroup and gear up for Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks in the next challenge.