He didn't need the time to collect his thoughts. He needed it to reenergize his body, and he wasn't alone.
The Flyers, folks, are laying it all on the ice, outworking their intrastate pals.
Later, Talbot stood on a riser in the middle of the locker room and talked matter-of-factly about how the Flyers had done the unthinkable: They climbed out of a 3-0 hole to win Game 1 in overtime, 4-3, and rallied from deficits of 2-0, 3-1, 4-3, and 5-4 to jolt the mighty Penguins, 8-5, in Game 2.
They were momentous comebacks - each led by coming-of-age rookies Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier - and it marked just the second time in franchise history the Flyers had started a playoff series with consecutive road wins. Yet Talbot downplayed the victories.
In other words, the Flyers - who can virtually lock up the series with a win over the Penguins at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon - are not taking anything for granted.
"That's not lip service, either," coach Peter Laviolette said after Saturday's practice in Voorhees. "There are things we need to do to be better, to continue to push forward here. There's a realization from this group, without me involved, and I think they know exactly what we need to do to be successful and how we need to prepare and how we need to play."
That's why, after Friday's comeback win, Talbot seemed more focused on what went wrong.
"We're obviously not satisfied again with the way we started the game," said Talbot, whose team has trailed by 2-0 - or worse - in nine of its last 14 contests. "We'll have to find a way to start games better, but at the same time, once again we showed a lot of character."
Talbot said he and his teammates are "trying to stay on an even keel. It's an 8-5 win, and it looks really good. Two guys [Couturier and Claude Giroux] get hat tricks, and it's great for the media. But for us, it's another win. It's Game 2 . . . but the sooner we put it behind us, the better. Game 3 is going to be huge."
"We have to look at it as if the series was 0-0," winger Wayne Simmonds said. "We still have a lot better hockey to play, and I think we can do that at home."
Outwardly, the Flyers are showing the Penguins lots of respect. They realize the Penguins had 108 points in the regular season and that no NHL team had more wins (51) or more goals (282).
Inwardly, they know they have gotten into the Penguins' collective heads.
At this point, the Penguins should be almost fried mentally by their consecutive collapses. Bewildered by the fact they are 1-7 against the Flyers in the Consol Energy Center since it opened two years ago. Puzzled by the room their defense, which could improve if Matt Niskanen returns from an injury Sunday, is giving their bitter rivals, and by the shaky play of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, owner of a 5.45 goals-against average and .804 save percentage in the series.
To be fair, the guy they call "Flower" has also been victimized by numerous odd-man rushes, and by lots of traffic that his defensemen have been unable to clear.
"They're taking advantage of every mistake we make," said Brooks Orpik, who had eight hits and was one of the Penguins' few effective defensemen in Game 2. "We're hanging our goalie out to dry."
The Penguins' regular season wasn't a fluke, and it would be downright shocking if they didn't play their best 60 minutes of the series Sunday. Sixty desperate minutes. In an arena where, oddly, the Flyers have struggled to win.
"So many times teams have been down 2-0 and come back to win the series," Flyers winger Jakub Voracek said. "It's a very dangerous team over there."
Ditto the Flyers, especially if Couturier continues to blossom. On Friday, Couturier (19 years, 128 days) became the second-youngest player in league history to register a playoff hat trick. According to the NHL, Ted "Teeder" Kennedy was the youngest, scoring three goals in a 1944 playoff game for Toronto when he was 19 years and 123 days old
"It feels good, but you have to get over it and focus on the next game," said Couturier, budding matinee idol, who drew shrieks from teenage girls as he skated past them Saturday. "You can't get too high or too low. You have to have the right emotions."
The soft-spoken kid with the toothless grin not only plays like a veteran, he talks like one.
Contact Sam Carchidi at scarchidi@phillynews.com or on Twitter @BroadStBull.
