Anthony Mingioni’s Flyers blogs are powered by Phans of Philly and by Summit Public Adjusters. Have you experienced damage to your property? Don’t panic! You’re in good hands. Summit works for YOU, and not the insurance companies. Call Brendan Gillespie at 215-919-1434. Phans of Philly is the longest-established travel company for Philadelphia pro sports team fan road trips.
Thanks to a stellar performance from Sean Couturier, the Philadelphia Flyers won their first game of the season 5-2 over the Florida Panthers.
Led by their captain’s four point (two goal, two assists) effort, they were able to avenge their season opening loss to the two time defending Stanley Cup champions. Couturier’s game winning goal with 4:10 left in regulation helped stem the tide in which the Florida Panthers seemed to have all of the momentum in the final period.
Coming off a difficult 2024-25 season, the game stood as a clarion moment for Couturier who has looked rejuvenated as a legitimate two way player again. Throughout the game, he seemed to be involved in many of the Flyers’ scoring chances beyond the four he received credit for, earning a plus-four.
Coming off a short season opening road trip in Florida and Carolina, the Flyers were looking forward to their first home game at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. Entering the game, the Flyers had a 0-1-1 record heading into their 2025-26 home opener. They lost to the Panthers 2-1 on Thursday, then suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime loss to the Hurricanes.
During pregame skate, there was a slight wrinkle to the Flyers lines from morning practice. Center Christian Dvorak lined up at the center spot on the third line with Trevor Zegras on the left wing.
Flyers Game Summary
First Period
The first period saw a marked difference in pace from the Flyers first game in Sunrise. Using a quick and disruptive forecheck, they built an early 6-3 shot advantage in the opening nine minutes of play.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 8:54 as right wing Tyson Foerster skated to the slot and absolutely wired a shot past Panthers goalie Danil Tarasov. Couturier’s work off the wall set the scoring play up as he sent a centering feed that deflected off of Sam Bennett and on to Foerster’s stick.
Flush with confidence, Philadelphia continued to put pressure through the remainder of the period, including a smart pass from Travis Konecny in the offensive zone to find a crashing Couturier at the net, who unable to beat Tarasov.
As a result, the Flyers held an 8-6 shot advantage at the end of 20 minutes.
Second Period
The Panthers regrouped early in the second period as the Sam Bennett line established a beach-head in the Flyers end, causing goalie Daniel Vladar to make several stops including one without his goalie stick. He would follow that with a big pad stop on winger Carter Verhaeghe’s one timer from the right slot later in the period.
One encouraging development was the Flyers power-play work, with Panthers center Sam Bennett in the box. While they didn’t score on it, Trevor Zegras was the constant threat. He was either wheeling the puck or setting up for the one timer. Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov both rotated as the net front presence.
Despite trading chances with the Panthers, the Flyers were able to get a two goal lead on a Couturier breakaway goal. After a Travis Sanheim interception, winger Travis Konecny found Couturier at the blue line and the Flyers’ captain took it in.
Subsequently, the Flyers seemed to have all of the late period momentum. Panthers’ defenseman Seth Jones was called for delay of game with 1:52 left. However, the Panthers scored on a shorthanded rush led by Sam Reinhart. Center Anton Lundell found Reinhart behind the net, who goes to the left post and deposited the puck past a sprawled Vladar at 19:23.
Florida outshot the Flyers 14-10 in the second period.
Third Period
Reinhart’s short-handed goal at the end of the second period really seemed to swing momentum to the Panthers and they capitalized quickly.
Center Sam Bennett evened the game at 2-2 on the power-play after Reinhart found him from behind the net as Vladar was sprawled out as he committed to the left side and had no chance to stop him. Vladar got pulled out of position off a cross-slot pass and ended up on his back, giving Bennett a wide-open net to shoot at on the other side.
Following a Garnet Hathaway goalie interference penalty, Bennett took slashing penalty when he broke defenseman Noah Juulsen’s stick. On the ensuing power-play, following 55 seconds of four on four hockey, the moment became the turning point for the game.
While Couturier’s game winning one timer from the right circle earned the headlines, the pass from Zegras was just as impressive. With two Panthers defenders closing in, Zegras somehow managed to find Couturier despite that pressure. It was a play with a high degree of difficulty to pull off.
As a result, the Panthers decided to gamble and pulled Tarasov with less than three minutes remaining. Right wing Bobby Brink made them pay for it with an empty net goal, following a Noah Cates interception in the neutral zone.
Finally, Christian Dvorak finished the game off as he tipped home Sanheim’s shot into the Panthers’ empty net.
