Flyers Lose To Canes, Remain Winless

Despite it being the third game of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers came into Saturday night’s game with a whiff of desperation. With the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes visiting them, they needed to string together some form of organized offense. While they were able to show some improvements in spurts, they remain winless through three games as they fell 3-2 in overtime.

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Former Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere scored the game-winner on the power play. It was their second power-play goal of the game, as they went two for four.

Carolina center Sebastian Aho led his team with two goals and three points, including an assist on Gostisbehere’s game-winner.

In their first two games, Philadelphia was unable to win puck battles and, as a result, didn’t possess the puck all that much. They still struggled in that department in this one, especially when trying to get consistent breakouts.

As they did in Thursday’s game in New Jersey, they relied on excellent goaltending from Joseph Woll, who finished with 37 saves.

Head coach Rick Tocchet looked to remedy his scoring line struggles by adjusting his left wing. He moved Carl Grundstrom to Trevor Zegras’ line with Owen Tippett. That proved to be a good unit as Tippett scored in the first period to tie the game at 1-1. Tippett, who missed last year’s second-round playoff series against Carolina, was a dangerous threat throughout. However, his penalty ultimately led to the game-winner.

In addition, Tocchet inserted defenseman David Jiricek into the lineup for his first game as a Flyer. He replaced Simon Benoit as Nick Seeler’s partner. Jiricek had a solid performance and also got power-play time in the third period.

However, the reason for that was Rasmus Ristolainen suffering an apparent hand injury in the second period. While he played a shift in the third period, he left the ice and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Flyers at skate. They host Hurricanes. Coverage at 6:30 p.m. ET on @NBCSPhilly.

F

Konecny-Dvorak-Michkov
Grundstrom-Zegras-Tippett
Foerster-Cates-Martone
Bump-Acciari-Couturier

D

Sanheim-Ristolainen
York-Drysdale
Seeler-Jiricek
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) October 3, 2026

Flyers Game Summary

First Period

Carolina leapt in front only 10 seconds into the game. Following a face-off win and dump-in, William Carrier was able to get the pass to him from behind the net as he was being hit by Rasmus Ristolainen. The Hurricanes continued to apply pressure, building up a 7-1 shot advantage by the 6:20 mark.

However, with their first real offensive sequence, the Flyers were able to tie the game at 1-1. Following a strong passing sequence started by Travis Sanheim. After Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kotchekov mishandled the puck behind the net, Trevor Zegras found Owen Tippett in the slot for a one-timer.

Despite the early goal, Woll was instrumental in keeping the game even with 12 saves in the period. He had several difficult stops, including another one-timer by Aho that he was leaning the wrong way on.

Second Period

The Flyers picked up their pace and managed some zone entries on the rush in the early going of the second period. After initially struggling to get extended sequences, the Travis Konecny-Christian Dvorak-Matvei Michkov broke the 1-1 tie.

Following a Jesperi Kotkaniemi turnover at the blue line, Travis Konecny got a centering pass to a closing Michkov, who beat the Carolina goalie for his first goal of the season.

As expected, Carolina picked up their puck possession game after that, finishing the period with a 17-6 shot advantage. However, the Flyers were much better in keeping their chances to the perimeter. Woll made several key saves to help them, especially on Carolina’s second power-play chance.

Third Period

After one shift in the third period following an apparent hand injury the period before, Rasmus Ristolainen was ruled out for the remainder of the game. With the Flyers now down to five defensemen, Carolina were able to press them in territorially for most of the period.

As a result, the Flyers had little margin for error when it came to taking penalties. After Michkov took an obvious holding call on Andrei Svechnikov, they tied the game at 2-2 on the subsequent power play. Aho would blast a one-timer shot from the slot on a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers for his second goal of the game.

Philadelphia would get a couple more chances on the power play when Jalen Chatfield took a roughing penalty at 8:01. However, they were unable to cash in, despite more chances generated by Zegras. Then Shayne Gostisbehere was called for slashing Tyson Foerster with 1:26 remaining in regulation. However, they weren’t able to muster much as the game turned to overtime.

Overtime

The Flyers had 34 seconds of carry-over power-play time heading into overtime. And Zegras had the game on his stick in the slot towards the end of it, but he was unable to corral the puck. Then with 3:25 left, Tippett was called for slashing Aho in the neutral zone.

On the ensuing power-play, Carolina patiently collapsed the Flyers penalty killing unit. Eventually, Gostisbehere blasted the puck past Woll for the game-winner. As Carolina came off the ice, the Flyers remained on the bench as they were incensed about a missed cross-check to Nick Seeler. In their view, it gave the Hurricanes extra time to set up the winner, but to no avail.

The Good

Tocchet’s decision to put Grundstrom on the Zegras line was probably the best development during the game. Grundstrom’s straight-line speed and willingness to make the simple play jelled well with the speedy Zegras and Tippett. He was the balanced connective tissue that allowed for his line-mates to have success.
It was Zegras and Tippett’s best games of the season by far. Zegras was a genuine threat on the power play, as he picked up an assist on Tippett’s goal. He also made some excellent feeds to Tyson Foerster that the latter almost scored on. Tippett made a highlight-reel spin-o-rama, showing a level of confidence with the puck we hadn’t seen in the first two games.
After giving up a relatively soft goal ten seconds in, Woll was a rock in net, keeping the Hurricanes at bay in helping the Flyers salvage a point. One particular sequence that stood out: with 4:14 left in the second period, he made a critical sequence of saves. He first stopped an initial shot that rebounded in the crease, then slid across for a left pad recovery save on William Carrier at the left post. It wouldn’t be surprising if he gets a third consecutive start in Tampa on Monday.

The Bad

As Carolina did in the second round last season, they dominated the Flyers in puck possession. In the second period, Philadelphia was able to keep their chances to the perimeter. But Carolina hurt the Flyers by taking advantage of a pair of penalties to Michkov and Tippett, and that made the difference.
The Christian Dvorak line with Konecny and Michkov had a roller coaster game. After a poor first period, they helped the Flyers take a 2-1 lead on Michkov’s goal. And on a subsequent shift, Dvorak had a point-blank chance in the slot that goalie Pyotr Kochetkov stopped. But Konecny had three giveaways, and they were far too inconsistent as a line to help support the Zegras unit.
Noah Cates only played 9:13 of ice time, a bit of an eyebrow raiser. He also only had eight seconds of penalty-killing time. Considering they gave up two power-play goals, it might be a good idea to use him more there in Tampa.

The Ugly

As good as Zegras was offensively, he has a ways to go on his defensive reads. In the second period, after winning a draw, he had time and space to clear the puck on a sequence. However, he threw the puck up the middle to no one. Carolina intercepted it, and it led to a long shift for the Flyers in their own end.
Despite an inconspicuous stat line, Jamie Drysdale struggled with Carolina’s forechecking pressure and made some questionable plays with the puck. After a strong season defensively in 2025-26, he needs to tighten things up again.
The Ristolainen injury looms. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday, but losing him for any stretch of time will put stress on their blue line. It wasn’t the best of games for him prior to the injury. He closed a bit too late on William Carrier on the opening goal and was not particularly tight on his defensive assignments.