Philadelphia Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said his team wasn't "mentally prepared" in its Game 1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.
The Hurricanes won their fifth postseason game in a row with a 3-0 shutout over the Flyers, who advanced to the second round for the first time since 2020 by eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
Tocchet said the euphoria from that overtime win against their rivals on Wednesday night may have negatively impacted their focus on Game 1 in Raleigh.
"I don't know if we were mentally prepared to play tonight. Winning our playoff series, [almost] not making the playoffs ... there was a lot of excitement. I don't think we got down to earth quick enough for this game. And then that's what happens: Your legs aren't there," he said. "We just didn't make any plays."
That was evidenced by a dud of a first period for Philadelphia. The Hurricanes had the shot attempt advantage (20-10), the shots on goal advantage (12-4) and carried a 2-0 lead into the dressing room on goals by Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake.
"We had a good start. That's what won the game. After that, there wasn't much happening," Carolina coach Rod Brind'amour said.
The Hurricanes played their trademark style of suffocating defense and stellar penalty killing, as the Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play.
"It's a good baptism for how some our players are going to have to play. We're going to have to play with some quickness and reactionary time," Tocchet said.
The Flyers' offense did take a hit before the game as forward Owen Tippett was unable to play due to injury and is listed day-to-day. While he had just a goal and an assist in six playoff games, Tippett led the Flyers with 28 goals in the regular season.
But overall, Philadelphia learned their second-round opponent is a formidable one. The Hurricanes became the eighth team in the last 50 years to allow five or fewer goals through their first five contests of a postseason, having given up just five goals overall against Ottawa and now Philadelphia.
"The Penguins were a good hockey team. So is Carolina. They played well. We didn't play well," Tocchet said, when asked whether this was a step up in competition. "I don't think we gave them anything to worry about for the first half of the game."
Game 2 is Monday at Lenovo Center.