"After we beat them, they're going to be coming for us," Tkachuk said. "We have to be better."
Sitting at 4-2-1, the Panthers opened up their trip with a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Eetu Luostarinen and Tkachuk both scored to trim the deficit down to 3-2. Unfortunatey, the rally fell short when Jonathan Toews cashed in on an empty net to make it 4-2.
In defeat, the Panthers went 0-for-6 on the power play.
"That was the one kind of bright spot in our game is they don't quit," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "They have a real belief they can come back and win those games, and rightfully so. If you are looking at the positives other than that, we aren't bragging about that one."
At 5-on-5, Florida led Chicago in both scoring chances (28-9) and expected goals (2.29-0.85).
"We've had a good start with our 5-on-5 play," Tkachuk said. "I'd put our 5-on-5 play up against anybody in the league right now. We just have to stay positive. They're going to start going in [on the power play]. We've just got to get guys and pucks to the net."
On fire from the get-go, Tkachuk leads the Panthers in goals (4), assists (5) and points (9). Not too far behind, Luostarinen ranks second in goals (3) and tied for second in points (6). Spreading out the offense, 16 different players on the Panthers have already recorded at least one point.
"This is a two-game road trip, and we're not a team that's going to lose two in a row," Tkachuk said following the loss to the Blackhawks. "That's our mindset. Would've loved to get the first one to set up the road trip, but now we've got to really grind out a tough one against Philly."
Off since Sunday, the Flyers were on the wrong end of a shutout the last time they were on the ice. Losing 3-0 to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 23, they fired 30 shots on James Reimer to no avail. Falling to 4-2-0, Philadelphia has lost two of three games after going 3-0-0 to kick off its 2022-23 season.
Both losses for the Flyers have come on the second half of back-to-backs.
"I don't think it's a physical tiredness, I think it's maybe a little groggy mentally," Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella said after the loss to San Jose. "But if you're a pro, you have to figure out how to simplify your game. We have to learn how to play back-to-backs. I think we have 16 of them this year. We're 0-for-2 as far as at least giving ourselves a chance."
Cracking the scoresheet in five of six games, Kevin Hayes leads the Flyers in scoring with eight points (one goal, seven assists), while Travis Konecny is second in points (6) and first in goals (4). In 19 career games against Florida, Hayes has posted 11 points (four goals, seven assists).
The backbone of Philadelphia's fourth-ranked defense (2.33 goals allowed per game), Carter Hart has posted a 4-0-0 record with a .949 save percentage. In his career against the Panthers, the 24-year-old goaltender has gone 2-4-0 with a .905 save percentage.
Overall, Florida has won each of its last four games against the Flyers.
