Zegras Not Forgetting 3.8 Percent, Says Flyers Are ‘still Here' Despite 3-0 Hole

Zegras not forgetting 3.8 percent, says Flyers are ‘still here' despite 3-0 hole originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

VOORHEES, N.J. — Trevor Zegras was asked about the four teams in NHL history that have come back from a 3-0 playoff series deficit.

He wanted to talk about his team, about the comeback the Flyers have made just to be one of the eight teams still remaining in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I think a big thing for us this year is that 3.8 percent number,” Zegras said Friday. “I bet not a lot of people, maybe not a lot of people in this [media] room, would have pegged us to be in the second round of the NHL playoffs. We have life, we have opportunity. It’s 3-0, but we’re still here, we’re still playing.”

Back on March 18, the Flyers had a 3.8 percent to make the playoffs, according to MoneyPuck.com. They’ve had that number featured on a team shirt for the playoffs. Now they need to really dig into their belief to dig out of a hole. They trail the Hurricanes 3-0 in this best-of-seven second-round matchup.

This young Flyers team will face its first elimination game Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena (6 p.m. ET/TNT).

“We’ve been dead before, we’ve climbed out of it, we’ve played a lot of playoff games the last two, three months,” Rick Tocchet said. “And now it’s a must-win, this is a do-or-die. How do you go into this game making these guys play relaxed, but also play desperate? I don’t like the word desperate that much; I like the word determined. Can we be more determined tomorrow night? Yeah, I think we can.”

In the first round, the Flyers were on the other side of the 3-0 conversation. They ripped off wins in the first three games of their series against the Penguins. They felt the pressure when Pittsburgh won Games 4 and 5.

“We know what it’s like to be up 3-0, that feeling when a team wins one game and then wins another game and kind of how the locker room tightens up,” Zegras said.

The Flyers were able to fend off the Penguins with an eke-it-out, 1-0 overtime win in Game 6. It set up a second-round date with Carolina, the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes are still unbeaten in these playoffs after taking the first three games from the Flyers.

“When you’re up 3-0, you feel like, almost in a sense, the series should be over, you just want it be done,” Zegras said. “I think if we can go out and get one tomorrow, they’ll tighten up a little bit. They’re 7-0, haven’t lost in the postseason yet. … We’ve got to do a job to make it as hard as possible tomorrow.”

A huge key for the Flyers will be giving Frederik Andersen a more arduous outing. The Carolina netminder had to make just 18 saves Thursday night in Game 3 as the Flyers lost, 4-1.

“I think there are things we can do against Andersen,” Tocchet said. “Listen, this guy’s playing great, but I think there’s something we can do tactically. Not his weakness, but one of his things that maybe he’s not as good at, I think we can do better at. We discussed it again today. Can we apply it tomorrow? We’ll see.”

More: Flyers without two key forwards in Game 3 loss

Andersen has held the Flyers to just three goals in the series.

“He’s feeling it, so we’ve got to do something different,” Nick Seeler said. “Change the angle, try to get a few more shots on net. I think we had 19 last game. Obviously put a little bit more pressure on him, getting to the net and having our anchors there. Tomorrow’s huge for us and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The Flyers will hope it’s not their last challenge.

“We’ve shown a ton of fight all season,” Zegras said. “We’ve got a lot of belief and confidence in the room.”