VOORHEES, N.J. — Last season, the Flyers lost 12 of 15 games prior to the Olympic break in February. They found a way to overcome that and snap their five-year playoff drought. This season, the Flyers have lost 12 of their first 15 games. So can they overcome it again? “A lot of people expect our team just to be perfect,” Cam York said Saturday. “It hasn’t been perfect for us by any means, but there’s a lot of hockey left, a lot of hockey to be played. A long season full of probably more ups and downs. We’ve been through it all as a group and this is just another one of those challenges for us.” The Flyers will try to embrace this challenge starting Sunday when they host the Mammoth (4 p.m. ET/NBCSP). They have more runway this season, with 69 games still to go. “That’s a lot of hockey,” Trevor Zegras said. “So we’ve just got to get hot. Game of runs.” But the Flyers know they have work to do. They’ve scored just 1.93 goals per game and sport a minus-21 goal differential (excluding shootout goals). They’re hoping a span of three days between games pays off. Following a busy stretch filled with adversity, the Flyers were off Thursday before practicing Friday and Saturday. “Lots of battles, worked on some systems and some compete,” Travis Sanheim said. “I think it was a good two days. We haven’t had that stretch. We’ve played the most amount of games of any team, so it has been tough sledding when it comes to practicing. Especially with a young team, I think it’s good to get some reps and feel good about yourself.” The practices had a lot of energy and detail to them. “We’ve got to compete at a higher level,” York said. “You practice like you play, right? So it’s good that we’ve done that. We’ve got to start to see it in the games.” After their 5-2 loss Wednesday night to the Capitals, the Flyers were tied with the Maple Leafs for the NHL’s most games played. Sixteen teams had played at least three fewer games. “You feel like you play every day,” Zegras said. “So it was nice to get two, three days to just breathe.” Rick Tocchet liked the practice time, but he won’t use the schedule as an excuse. “Every team goes through it,” he said. “It has been a tough month for us. We haven’t had as much practice as we’d like when you’re a young team. But that’s the cards you’re dealt. “We had two days of practice, which was nice, to work on a couple of things. Hopefully we take that into the Utah game, the response. Defending the puck is something we took a lot of pride in last year. We’ve got to start taking more pride in it this year.” The Flyers are also hoping to have two top reinforcements Sunday. For a second straight day, Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett practiced. Konecny has missed the last 10 games because of a lower-body injury. Tippett has missed the last six with an upper-body injury. The two forwards could be on track to return against the Mammoth. “Tip looked good today and T.K., too,” Tocchet said. “I’ll talk to T.K. later today. Tip looks like he’s trending on that way. But later this afternoon we’ll kind of know because I think they’re getting treatment and stuff like that. But they feel good.” In practice, Konecny was on a line with Zegras and Christian Dvorak. Tippett was on a line with Denver Barkey and Tyson Foerster. Konecny and Tippett also participated in power play work. Konecny is a heart-and-soul guy for the Flyers. He has also been their leading point man in each of the last five seasons. “I think he’s just a gamer,” Sanheim said. “When he’s at his best, whenever you need a guy to step up, it always just felt like it was him that provided it. Whether it was a big shift, a big hit, a big goal, a timely play — he’s a big part of our group, so whenever we can get him back, we’ll be excited to do so.” Tippett led the Flyers with 28 goals last season. The Flyers have missed his ability to make plays up ice. “Fastest player in the whole league,” Zegras said. … “He can take over a game, so it’s important.” This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less