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The Philadelphia Flyers played their first road game of the 2026-27 season on Thursday night. Rick Tocchet’s team settled for one point in a 3-2 loss. New Jersey outplayed Philadelphia in all three regulation periods.
Rasmus Ristolainen (1st) scored during a first period delayed penalty to establish a 1-0 lead. Three successful penalty kills, a dozen blocked shots and several excellent saves by Joseph Woll helped Philly take a lead to intermission.
In the second period, the Flyers still spent considerable time trying to keep New Jersey contained in the defensive zone. Attack opportunities remained few and far between. Finally, Dougie Hamilton (1st) tied the game at 1-1.
Joseph Woll made two more great saves, including one of the absolutely spectacular variety to keep the score tied at 1-1. Then Travis Sanheim, who assisted on the Ristolainen goal, put Philadelphia ahead 2-1. However, the Flyers gave up too much space on a Luke Hughes goal as New Jersey re-tied the score.
Making his Flyers debut, Woll stole one point. He finished with 41 saves on 44 shots. Jake Allen got the win for New Jersey with 23 saves on 25 shots.
The Good
- Never apologize for great goaltending. Woll delivered and then some. It’s a shame the team in front of him could not deliver a win. He deserved it. Woll has earned another start on Saturday against defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina. Of course, that decision is up to head coach Rick Tocchet and goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh.
- The Flyers had nowhere to go but up from where they left off on Wednesday. The opener was atrocious in nearly every aspect of the game. However, it should be said that the team blocked a lot of shots, went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, and had a golden chance to win in overtime. Trevor Zegras, one of many Flyers who is off to a terrible start, couldn’t finish it.
- It’s always good to get offensive contributions from the defense, especially when the forwards struggle. Sanheim (one goal, one assist) and Ristolainen (goal) provided that on Thursday.
The Bad
- “Better” is a relative term. The Flyers were “better” on Thursday because the previous night had absolutely zero positives. Nevertheless, the majority of Philly’s execution in Newark still fell into the Ugly category. The Devils out-skated, out-possessed and out-chanced Philly in all three regulation periods. Containment mode only works for so long.
- After giving up a (fluky) shorthanded goal in the opener on Wednesday, Philly nearly coughed up another in Newark.
- This is worrisome: Down the stretch last season and through the first three games of the Pittsburgh series, the Flyers locked down the neutral zone. Thereafter — Games 4 to 6 against Pittsburgh, most of the Carolina series, the 2026 preseason and the two regular season games to date — opponents have navigated the neutral zone and gained entries with alarming ease. On Wednesday, most of the talk (justifiably) was about Philly’s awful D-zone play. However, their neutral zone play was scarcely better, either.
- The “boarding” penalty on Sean Couturier was so bad that I wouldn’t be surprised if Wes McCauley apologized to the Flyers’ captain after seeing a replay. It wasn’t even a marginal penalty. It was a missed check and even bigger blown call.
The Ugly
- The Flyers play with the puck — when they have an opportunity to possess it all — has been abysmal. We’re not just talking about forcing low-percentage plays. They aren’t even completing routine short-range passes. Couple that with losing the lion’s share of 50-50 battles and generally getting owned on the walls.
- Philly generated a few more scoring chances on Thursday than in the opener. However, that’s still just a comparative. The offense isn’t even sporadic. It’s been nearly non-existent. The Flyers juggled three line combos from Wednesday to Thursday. It hardly mattered.
- Philadelphia has gifted goals via atrocious line changes, careless turnovers, and giving up the middle of the ice. They won’t even be able to get in a practice between games two and three.
Flyers Postgame Media
Flyers Daily: October 2, 2026
Jason Myrtetus and I are in lock-step on this: The Flyers 3-2 overtime loss against the Devils cannot be detached from the disastrous home opener to the Penguins. Fundamentally, not nearly enough things improved from Wednesday to Thursday. Moreover, the Flyers rarely beat Carolina under the best of circumstances. There’s so much the Flyers need to improve dramatically that it’s hard to describe it all. All three zones need to improve. Dan Vladar gets a mulligan for open night because his entire preseason consisted of one half period. The rest is not so easy to overlook, nor should it be.
Phantoms Files: Opening Night Roster
John Snowden’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms open their 2026-27 regular season this weekend. On Saturday night, the Phantoms host the Hartford Wolf Pack at the PPL Center.
The Phantoms will carry 27 players on their opening roster: 16 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. The numerical roster follows below:
1 Yaniv Perets – G
4 Ty Murchison – D
8 Brady Berard – F
9 Riley Thompson – F
12 Zach Aston-Reese – F
13 Alex Ciernik – F
14 Jonathan Gruden – F
15 Noah Powell – F
18 Danila Klimovich – F
19 Hunter McDonald – D
22 Cole Knuble – F
23 Jack Studnicka – F
25 Nolan Foote – F
27 Owen McLaughlin – F
35 Aleksei Kolosov – G
42 Spencer Gill – D
44 Cam Dineen – D
46 Vincent Sevigny – D
56 Jacob Gaucher – F
59 Oliver Bonk – D
64 Carson Bjarnason – G
65 Andrew Perrott – D
74 Zayde Wisdom – F
77 Jett Luchanko – F
88 David Goyette – F
90 Ilya Pautov – F
92 Jackson Edward – D
Nine rookies make the opening roster
The Phantoms have nine roster players who enter their first full season of pro hockey in North America: Jett Luchanko, Cole Knuble, Spencer Gill, Noah Powell, Alex Ciernik, Ilya Pautov, Riley Thompson, Brady Berard, and Owen McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, a dozen players on the roster have (widely varying levels of) NHL experience: Zach Aston-Reese (416 games), Oliver Bonk, Cam Dineen, Nolan Foote, Jacob Gaucher, Jonathan Gruden, Aleksei Kolosov, Jett Luchanko, Hunter McDonald, Ty Murchison, Yaniv Perets, and Jack Studnicka.
Today in Flyers History: Powered by Guffaw Cigars
Returning to North America after a year in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, the late Ray Emery could hardly have hoped for a better debut as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. On October 2, 2009, the visiting Flyers recorded an opening night 2-0 shutout victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Emery made 28 saves to earn the win.
After a scoreless first period, second period goals by Jeff Carter and Mike Richards provide the eventual margin of victory for the Flyers. Along with Emery’s debut, the game marks the first regular season Flyers appearance for veteran superstar defenseman Chris Pronger, who records three blocks, two hits and one shot on goal.
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