The Philadelphia Flyers had a chance to break through in Detroit, and for a while it looked like they might finally have the kind of night that turns a season around. They scored first.
They carried a lead into the second period. They were still in it after two.
Then the game slipped away the same way so many others have this season.
Andrew Copp scored with 4:38 left in the third period, and that proved to be the difference as the Flyers fell 2-1 to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena. The loss was Philadelphia’s ninth straight.
For the Flyers, the opening period offered a rare early boost. It was only the second time this season they scored first, and it came with 2:28 left in the period. Travis Sanheim fired a shot that was deflected in front of the net and kicked out to Matvei Michkov, who batted it in from the side of the cage for his third goal of the season.
Detroit still had the edge in shots after 20 minutes, 9-5.
The Red Wings answered quickly after a Flyers power play in the second period. Anton Johansson, fresh out of the box, jumped into a two-on-one and finished off a Dylan Larkin pass for his first NHL goal at 4:31. That tied the game and settled things into a grind.
Through two periods, Detroit had the shots advantage, 19-11.
Philadelphia was trying to build something in the third, but the next mistake was the costly one. Copp found a loose puck near the crease and finished it off to give Detroit the lead for good.
The Flyers then took a penalty with 1:29 remaining, which all but shut the door.
Matvei Michkov was the one bright spot for Philadelphia. He was the Flyers’ best player, and not just because he scored. Every time he touched the puck, he seemed capable of creating something, which made his performance stand out even more against a team that struggled to generate much of anything around him.
Johansson had a notable night too, even with multiple trips to the penalty box. His first NHL goal erased the Flyers’ early lead and helped set the stage for Detroit’s comeback.
Copp’s goal became the decisive play, cleaning up around the net while Philadelphia looked disorganized in its own zone.
The larger picture for the Flyers is getting harder to ignore. Nine straight losses to open the season have left them with the same recurring problems: sloppy mistakes, shaky chemistry, and too many shifts that go nowhere.
The result in Detroit fit the pattern. It was ugly, frustrating, and more proof that this start is becoming a serious issue.
The Flyers return home Saturday night to face the Ottawa Senators at 7 PM.
In Other News...
Flyers Young Core Is Raising An Early Concern Philadelphia Can't Ignore
Early-season growing pains have shown up quickly for Philadelphia, with young players such as Porter Martone, Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk all trying to find their footing at the NHL level. For a group that figures to matter to the Flyers future, the first few weeks have been a reminder that development does not always move in a straight line, especially when the pace ramps up right away and the margin for error gets thin.
A shorter preseason appears to have left less time for those players to get comfortable before the games started counting, and that has become part of the conversation around the clubs uneven start. Still, the Flyers issues are not limited to the rookies and second-year types, and simply adding more exhibition games would not have guaranteed a cleaner opening stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Fans Finally Have A Date To Watch For The New Jerseys
The wait is finally over for Flyers fans who have been watching the clubs alternate-jersey rollout with curiosity. Philadelphias Hometown Remix look will get its first on-ice appearance this season, giving the team another visual identity to go along with the regular home set and adding a little extra buzz to the building when the new threads arrive.
The debut is set for the first time the Flyers host Minnesota, and the jersey will show up often enough afterward to feel like more than a one-off marketing exercise. The team has said it will use the alternates 13 times this season, with most of those games coming at Xfinity Mobile Arena, though the full design has still not been formally unveiled after a possible version surfaced back in June. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Fans Should Be Watching Mikhail Gulyayevs Start Closely
The early KHL season has offered a useful snapshot of how several NHL prospects are faring overseas, and one of the names worth keeping on the radar from a Flyers perspective is Yegor Zavragin. The young goalie has been getting regular starts, and his team situation has given him a chance to show whether last seasons promise can carry over into a bigger workload.
For Flyers fans, the appeal is obvious: Philadelphia has been tracking goaltending depth closely, and Zavragin remains one of the more interesting long-term pieces in that conversation. His recent run has been strong enough to keep him in the spotlight, even as the wider group of drafted prospects in the KHL continues to shift with injuries, ice time and roster decisions that will shape the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]