PHILADELPHIA – When the Flyers allowed a goal in the first 10 seconds of the game, it looked like it might be a long night for the home team.
Instead, the visiting Carolina Hurricanes had to battle back to record a 3-2 win in overtime.
Credit goaltender Joseph Woll for regrouping nicely after that initial goal, although the Hurricanes scored at 2:51 of overtime for the win on Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Shayne Gostisbehere provided the winning goal on a power-play goal for Carolina.
The Flyers have taken two good opponents to overtime in the last pair of games so one could say they’re making progress.
However, coach Rick Tocchet said there’s still a lot of work to be done. His team is off to its slowest start since the 2015-16 season when Philadelphia went 0-2-2.
There are problems like the power play, which has yet to produce a goal this season. Nothing new there. And it was costly in this game. The Flyers, who went 0 for 4 and have yet to score with the man advantage this season, actually had a power play in the last 86 seconds of regulation time and the first 34 of overtime and couldn’t generate anything.
“We had the look we wanted and we just missed,” Tocchet said of the four-on-three opportunity in overtime.
“Our execution is not good this year,” he added. “We have to execute. Other teams are going through the same thing. The (Flyers’) execution is really bad. Everyone’s had six, seven, eight practices. That’s not an excuse. We’re going to have to fast-track this.”
A goal by Matvei Michkov at 7:20 of the second period put the Flyers in front for the first time at 2-1.
Travis Konecny set up the play by stealing the puck from Carolina left wing Jesperi Kotkaniemi just inside the Hurricanes’ blue line. Konecny relayed to Michkov in front for the goal.
But the ‘Canes rallied on a power-play goal (courtesy of a Michkov penalty) by Sebastian Aho at 4:59 of the third period.
It was a rather humbling start for the Flyers.
Aho was left uncovered in front and he sent a shot past a startled Woll before fans were settled in their seats.
For the record, the fastest goal ever allowed by a Flyers team took place on Jan. 18, 1987 when the New York Rangers connected just five seconds into the encounter.
The Flyers pulled even when Owen Tippett finally recorded the team’s first goal on home ice of the season. Off a scramble, his shot from the slot sailed past goalie Pyotr Kochetkov at 8:03.
Tippett, who was in the penalty box when Gostisbehere soored, said the Flyers showed some positive signs in this game, although they were once again outshot by a wide margin (40-18). They were also outshot by a considerable amount in the first two games.
As for the penalty, probably not a good thing.
“I can’t take it,” he said. “I really haven’t seen it (on video). But I can’t take one in overtime.”
The shots allowed can’t be a sustained atat.
“I think we can help him (Woll) by preventing shots,” Tippett said. “We don’t need to be giving up that much. We have to find a way to keep traffic out of the way.”
Trevor Zegras believes the Flyers are at least cutting down on the number of quality shots.
“I thought we were better tonight,” Zegras said. “I know they had a ton but a lot of them for the most part were from the outside. I still think we gave up one too many from inside the house. That’s their kind of game. Probably more concerned with how many shots we had than they had. We’re getting better, we’re learning from it.”
For the record, the Flyers have been outshot 122-62 for their first three games.
>Ristolainen injured
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen suffered a right hand injury late in the second period, left the game, and, after a brief appearance at the start of the third period, had to leave for good.
If Ristolainen can’t be ready for Monday night’s game at Tampa, Tocchet said the Flyers will likely call up somebody from Lehigh Valley.
>Blocked shots extravaganza
The 32 blocked shots by the Flyers on Thursday night vs. the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. were the fifth-most in team history.
Jamie Drysdale led the way with six blocked shots, followed by Nick Seeler with five.
The team total are the third-highest in the NHL over the past calendar year. The only higher totals were recorded by Washington (36) on March 3, 2026 and by Boston (34) on Oct. 25, 2025.
The Flyers’ record for blocked shots is 36, recorded on March 19, 2024 vs. Toronto. They also blocked 34 vs. Pittsburgh on Feb. 8, 2025 and 33 twice (Colorado, March 28, 2018 and New Jersey, Jan. 18, 2025).
>Barkey getting closer
Denver Barkey took part in a few contact drills on Saturday morning and the Flyers say there’s a chance he will return to action sometime this week.
>Sanheim totals climb
Defenseman Travis Sanheim registered his first multi-point game (goal and assist) in the New Jersey game. Last year he recorded a personal high of 11 goals for the season.
The goal on Thursday was the 66th of his career. That moved him past Ivan Provorov for sole possession of fourth place on the Flyers’ all-time list for defensemen. Sanheim’s next goal will tie him with Tom Bladon for third place on the all-time list.
Mark Howe holds the all-time lead for defense goals with 138. Eric Desjardins is second with 93.
Be the first to comment