The Flyers left Tuesday night with a comeback to talk about and a loss that still felt like a gut punch.
Philadelphia spotted Columbus a 3-0 lead after just 14 minutes, clawed all the way back to force overtime, and still came away with a 4-3 defeat when the Blue Jackets scored on their second two-on-none of the extra session. That kind of rally would normally earn a team some credit.
For the Flyers, though, the context is doing all the heavy lifting. They opened the 2026-27 season with nine straight losses, so even a spirited response can’t fully cover up the mess that started the night.
The damage came early, and it came in a hurry. Columbus took the lead at four-on-four when Adam Fantilli finished off a sequence that started with an awkward Flyers change and a moment where an extra Philadelphia skater was briefly over the boards. Noah Cates and Oliver Bonk both ended up on Kent Johnson, which left Fantilli free for his fourth goal of the season.
Philadelphia then made things harder on itself. A failed breakout pass between Travis Sanheim and Trevor Zegras was followed by a Bonk giveaway, and Danton Heinen fed Zach Werenski for a one-timer that went in off Johnson. Not long after that, Jamie Drysdale and Cam York lost a battle along the boards, and Denton Mateychuk found space in the slot for his third goal of the season.
That stretch lasted only 2:46 between Fantilli’s goal and Mateychuk’s, but it buried the Flyers in a hole they spent the rest of the game trying to climb out of. They managed it well enough to force overtime, but the ending looked familiar in the worst way.
There was at least one bright spot in Tyson Foerster, who may have turned in his best game of the season. Before this one, he had only two goals, including a fluky short-handed one on Saturday, and his underlying numbers had been rough. Against Columbus, though, he looked like the player the Flyers paid $56.8 million to keep over the summer.
Foerster nearly scored a highlight-reel goal after weaving around a Columbus defenseman, only to be turned away at the net front. Later, he appeared to have earned a late tripping call that never came. Then, with 9.6 seconds left, he set up Jamie Drysdale’s tying goal with a backdoor feed after getting denied point-blank again in the final half-minute.
He finished with three shots on goal, tied for second on the Flyers, and an 86.71% expected goal mark that ranked third among Philadelphia skaters. He and Nick Seeler were the only Flyers on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal for and not one against.
That kind of performance matters because the Flyers have been fighting for anything that looks stable. They’ve scored three or more goals in five straight games after failing to do it in their first nine, and if that offensive trend is going to hold, Foerster has to keep looking like this.
The bigger picture still isn’t pretty. One game remains in October, and Philadelphia probably can’t wait to flip the calendar.
The club has already tried a little of everything - call-ups, free-agent moves, even changing the warm-up mix - to shake itself loose from this start. So far, nothing has stuck.
There’s some recent history that offers a sliver of hope, but not much more than that. In January, the Flyers opened the month with a 4-8-3 record and then spent the rest of the year looking much more like a 103-point team. This season’s start, at least on paper, is tracking at an almost identical 59-point pace over 82 games.
Injuries were a major part of last January’s collapse, too. Dan Vladař missed time from Jan. 14 to Jan. 28, and during those six games the Flyers allowed 9.02 goals above expected, per Moneypuck.com.
Rasmus Ristolainen missed six games that month, Drysdale missed three, and Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny each missed one. Foerster’s absence also hung over that stretch.
Even with all that, the Flyers didn’t fall apart everywhere. Their 51.71 expected goal share at 5-on-5 in January ranked 10th in the NHL, per Natural Stat Trick, and that was actually a tick better than their full-season 50.71 mark, which ranked 14th.
This month has been far uglier. Entering Tuesday, their 30.95% expected goal share was better than only the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks, and Vancouver Canucks.
Philadelphia now heads to Washington to finish October against the Capitals, who haven’t played since Saturday and have only one game since last Tuesday. The Flyers, meanwhile, will be walking into a nationally televised game with a rest disadvantage and more pressure than they can afford.
If anything has been made clear already, it’s that this is not going to be a clean climb out of the hole.
In Other News...
Flyers Showed Fight But One Familiar Problem Ruined It Again
For a Flyers team trying to keep building on signs of progress, Tuesdays loss in Columbus had the frustrating shape of a game that got away, then nearly came back, then slipped away for good. The Blue Jackets jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first period, and Philadelphia spent the rest of the night digging out of it before falling 4-3 in overtime, with Cam Talbot turning aside 28 shots for Columbus and Dan Vladar making 11 saves for the Flyers.
The rally was enough to make this one feel like two different games, which only sharpened the disappointment once overtime arrived. Philadelphia showed plenty of fight to erase the deficit and force the extra session, but the finish again left the Flyers with the same familiar problem they have been trying to solve: finding a way to turn effort and recovery into points before the night gets decided in the smallest of margins. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Face A Tight Division Test With Little Margin For Error
The Flyers head into Washington with little room to spare in a Metropolitan Division matchup that already feels like an early measuring stick. Both teams have had their share of recent ups and downs, and the setting only adds to the pressure, with each side trying to steady itself in a game where recent form, goalie play and the betting market all point to a tight one.
Philadelphia is also dealing with the usual late-season concerns that can tilt a game of this type, from injury status to the margin for error inside the division. Add in the fact that recent results for both clubs have not left much breathing room, and this looks like the kind of contest where every shift matters and the final score could hinge on one goal either way. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Keep Showing Fight But One Problem Wont Go Away
The Flyers keep finding ways to make games interesting, even if the early hole keeps costing them. In Wednesdays 4-3 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia dug itself out of a 3-0 first-period deficit and forced extra time, another sign that the group has not lost its fight even as it keeps chasing more consistency. Dan Vladar made 11 saves on 15 shots, and the home team at least gave itself a chance after a rough opening frame.
Cam York was back after missing eight games, which was a welcome sight for a blue line that has been dealing with turnover and injury, while Rasmus Ristolainen was out again because of a reinjured left hand. Still, the same issue lingered long enough to matter: Columbus eventually broke through in overtime and left the Flyers with another hard-luck result to sort through as the season keeps grinding forward. [Read more 🡒]