The Flyers at least looked more like a team on Thursday night. That still didn’t change the result.
Philadelphia played what was arguably its cleanest game of the season, but it ended the same way too many of these have gone already: a 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre, their fifth straight defeat. The Flyers are now 0-3-2, and the calendar isn’t offering much relief.
They head to Boston to face the Bruins on Saturday afternoon, and if that one goes sideways too, they’ll come home Sunday still searching for their first win. Carolina is waiting again after that.
The bigger issue is still the same one that has been staring them in the face all season. The Flyers are tied for the fewest 5-on-5 goals in the NHL, and they were blanked at even strength again Thursday for the second time already this year.
Through five games, they’ve scored just four times at 5-on-5. The five teams tied with them - Calgary, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Columbus - have all played four games or fewer.
Philadelphia did manage to make a game of it in the second period. The Flyers outshot Ottawa 11-9 in that frame, and Matvei Michkov buried a loose Trevor Zegras rebound on the power play to pull them even at 1-1.
But the Senators answered in the third, holding a 9-7 edge in shots, though that number flatters the Flyers a bit because most of their pressure came late as they chased the game in the final minutes. Carter Yakemchuk delivered the winner for Ottawa, and the sequence had a bitter edge for Philadelphia: Michael Bunting, signed to provide a spark and making his first game action of the season, took the penalty that led to the Senators’ fifth power play of the night. Ottawa made that chance count.
So yes, the Flyers weren’t getting buried shift after shift the way they have in other games. But that doesn’t turn this into progress.
Around here, just looking steadier for a night isn’t the standard. That’s the expectation every time out over 84 games, and that’s how this team has already ended up talking about “compete” and complacency a week into the 2026-27 season.
There were a few notable personnel developments tucked into the loss as well. David Jiricek was moved up to the second pairing alongside York after his costly mistake against Tampa Bay on Monday, and he responded well, including time on PP1.
Jiricek logged 18:25, third among Flyers defensemen behind only Travis Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale, and finished with two shots on goal. Natural Stat Trick had the Flyers ahead in attempts, unblocked attempts and shots on goal with Jiricek on the ice at 5-on-5, though Ottawa held a 6-5 edge in scoring chances.
York, on the other hand, continued a rough start. With him on the ice at 5-on-5, Ottawa had a 10-3 advantage in scoring chances, a sign that his struggles at both ends are dragging down the pairings around him early this season.
Michkov’s role keeps growing, too. On the power play, he functioned as the de facto center on PP1 and won four of seven faceoffs, or 57.1 percent, in Trevor Zegras’ spot.
Not long ago, the Flyers were avoiding using those two together on the same power play. Now, five games into the season, Michkov has already taken another job from Zegras.
There are other cold spots on the roster that aren’t helping the scoring drought. Tyson Foerster has only two goals, and those are his only points, over his last 15 games, playoffs included.
He’s minus-8 in that stretch. Porter Martone has yet to record a point in his first five games this season, though he’s averaging just 12:55 of ice time per game.
By comparison, he averaged 17:02 in nine regular-season games with the Flyers to close last season and 16:48 in the playoffs.
And through all of it, the Flyers are still looking for juice.
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