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The Philadelphia Flyers remain winless (0-5-2) through the first seven games of the 2026-27 season. Right now’s it hard to tell which has been a bigger problem: Anemic offense or leaky defense. Regardless, the bottom line is that the team has been outscored by a whopping 28-8 margin, Moreover, the goaltending has been fine except on opening night.
To score just eight goals in seven games is unacceptable. But what’s truly worrisome is how widely the Flyers get out-possessed an out-chanced on in most every period of every game.
On Sunday, the Flyers absorbed a 4-1 loss at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
The game was scoreless for 30 minutes. Then the teams generated a quick barrage of four goals. Unfortunately, Carolina scored three of them.
Christian Dvorak scored the lone Philadelphia goal. Andrei Svechnikov, Shayne Gostisbehere, Sebastian Aho, and Mark Jankowski tallied for Ottawa. Philly struggled to contain Carolina’s top line of Aho (1g, 1a), Svechnikov (1g, 1a) and WIlliam Carrier (2a).
Joseph Woll made 26 saves on 30 shots in a losing cause. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 18 of 19 shots.
For more about the game, click here.
The Good
- The Flyers kept Carolina to the perimeter for the first 30 minutes of the game. Philly got out-shot and out-possessed but Carolina didn’t have many dangerous chances over the first half the game. Thereafter, it wasn’t so good.
- There were pockets of the game where the Flyers strung a couple decent shifts together. There just were not enough of them that were sustained.
- The Flyers went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill; a much better showing than the previous game against the Hurricanes this month.
The Bad
- The Flyers mini-stretch of back-to-back games with a power play goal came to an end. Philly went 0-for-3 and the man advantage did not create momentum for subsequent shifts.
- This was a killer: a Flyers turnover at the red line and then another one high in the attack zone turned into back-to-back goals for the Hurricanes.
- When the Flyers got on the board with Dvorak’s deflection goal, Carolina struck back quickly for a 3-1 lead.
The ugly
- The Flyers made a mini-push when play briefly opened up in the third period. However, thereafter, the Flyers were careless in forcing plays and turning over the puck. A comeback never felt realistic.
- Rough game for rookie Oliver Bonk. He struggled on weak-side reads in particular. In fairness, the Flyers thrust him onto the top pairing against the defending champs in just his second career regular season NHL game. David Jiricek, meanwhile, was one over several Flyers blueliners who had an up-and-down game.
- Trevor Zegras continues to struggle. It’s fair to ask if he’s struggling to make the transition to a full-time center or it’s simply a matter of pressing too hard. He’s reacting and forcing plays rather than playing instinctively.
Flyers Lineup
Denver Barkey- Christian Dvorak – Tyson Foerster
Michael Bunting – Trevor Zegras – Matvei Michkov
Owen Tippett – Sean Couturier – Porter Martone
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Noel Acciari
Travis Sanheim – Oliver Bonk
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Simon Benoit – David Jiricek
Joseph Woll
[Dan Vladar]
Team Toyota Spotlight: Flyers Too Easy to Play Against
Through most of the preseason and the first seven games, the Flyers have been reactive and unfocused.
“Play north” has become a cliche, but that’s something the Flyers need to establish: better breakouts, connectedness moving up ice, quicker reads and reactions in the defesing, taking away the middle of the ice, controlling the neutral zone, forcing turnovers and counter attacking, wall play, small area plays, etc.
That’s not even close to the full list of things the Flyers need to clean up next game and beyond. Overall, the Flyers fail to gave themselves a chance to compete. They are far too easy to play against.
It all starts with puck possession. First, the Flyers need to win the small battles (faceoffs, loose pucks, board play) it takes to get the puck on a Flyers’ stick in the first place. Second, the Flyers need to take care of the puck once they have it.
Across the board, Philly hasn’t been nearly good enough in the first four games. Not in any zone. The team’s defensive zone containment was marginally better the last two games. That’s about it. The Flyers blocked a lot of shots and they got strong goaltending. Puck possession remains unacceptable.
Moreover, the Flyers are neither disciplined nor creative so far. That’s why get outshot, outchanced, and outscored so widely.
Stanley Cup coming to Medford Lakes
Today in Flyers History: Powered by Guffaw Cigars
The 1984-85 Philadelphia Flyers shocked the entire NHL by posting the NHL’s best record in the regular season and coming within three wins of the Stanley Cup with first-year head coach Mike Keenan behind the bench and the youngest roster in the league. What could they do for an encore?
After falling to the New Jersey Devils at the Spectrum on opening night, the Flyers redeemed themselves quickly. On October 12, 1985, backup goaltender Bob Froese cranked out a gem of a start, stopping 42 of 44 shots in a 4-2 road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Third period goals by Murray Craven and Dave Poulin (empty net) made the difference. Peter Zezel(power play) scored in the first period, while Brian Propp briefly put the team ahead 2-0 in the second.
The victory in Pittsburgh started a stretch in which the Flyers would rattle off a 16-1-0 record, including a 13-game winning streak. However, the final three wins of the streak – and the rest of the season – would be overshadowed by defending Vezina Trophy winner Pelle Lindbergh’s fatal automobile accident in the wee hours of November 10, 1985.
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