Tortorella says Canadiens blowing out his slumping Flyers was "rock bottom"

With the Canadiens blowing them out by a score of 9-3 on Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers’ playoff hopes have all but dwindled.

And while both Canadiens and Flyers reporters expected head coach John Tortorella to be his usual temperamental self after the brutal loss, the 65-year-old was eerily calm in his postgame media availability on Tuesday night.

“After giving up an early one in the first, I thought we settled the game down, found a way to get playing,” Tortorella said. “After they score their second, the wheels come off. We made a lot of mistakes tonight.”

The bench boss, who has been desperately trying to get his team into the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot for weeks, called the loss — Philly’s eighth in a row — “rock bottom.”

“This was rock bottom tonight for us. I hate to see us, at this time of year, be playing this way,” he said bluntly. “One thing great about this league, and we’re on the wrong side of it, it’s unmerciful.”

Rather than complaining about officiating or outside factors, Tortorella actually praised the Bell Centre crowd’s atmosphere, calling the Canadiens’ home rink difficult to play in.

“It’s one of the tougher buildings to play in because it gets revved up,” he said alluding to the standing ovation Juraj Slafkovsky received after scoring a hat trick. “It’s such a great building to play in.”

As for the remaining three games on their schedule, Tortorella said, at this point, he’s more focused on getting the Flyers to play the right way than chasing a postseason appearance.

“I’m concerned about being pros, just trying to get some of our dignity back, and just be playing the right way,” he explained. “It’s a good group of players. I’m frustrated for ’em that we’re kind of ending it this way.”

To be fair, the Habs, who are tied for last place in their division, have been playing that way for weeks, realizing their playoff dreams would not come true early in the second half of their campaign.

And as the Flyers saw firsthand last night, that lack of pressure can do wonders on the ice.

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