The Flyers came within reach of their first win, then let it slip away in the exact kind of ending that has defined this start.
Seattle left Philadelphia with a 3-2 shootout victory Tuesday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena, and the Flyers are still stuck at 0-5-3. After another night of shaky execution, they remain winless to a franchise-worst degree.
For two periods, it looked grim in the most familiar way possible. The Flyers were loose with the puck, out of sync without it, and repeatedly beat themselves with careless passes and soft defense. Their shots lacked bite, and the whole operation had the feel of a team heading toward its eighth straight loss long before the third period arrived.
The crowd matched the mood. The building never found much energy, beyond scattered boos and a silence that hung over much of the night as fans watched a team that was being applauded off the ice not even six months ago now look like one of the NHL’s worst groups.
Seattle struck first on a first-period power play when Bobby McMann collected a bounce in front and lifted it past Dan Vladar. That goal had the feel of a punch to the chest, and it only got worse midway through the second when Ville Ottavainen stepped into space and fired through traffic to make it 2-0 Kraken.
There were a few brief jolts. Vladar turned aside a Jordan Eberle penalty shot, and Trevor Zegras helped spark some jawing and shoving with Philipp Grubauer late in the second.
But none of it changed the larger picture. The Flyers still looked stuck, and the game still seemed to be slipping away.
Then, almost out of nowhere, they finally found a rush that looked alive. Rookie Oliver Bonk, Tyson Foerster and Christian Dvorak combined on what was easily Philadelphia’s best scoring chance of the season, and Zegras finished it off with an open look and a laser past Grubauer to tie it. Vladar followed with a stretch of big saves that gave the Flyers a chance to breathe.
Even then, the relief didn’t last. The Flyers had opened a door, and they couldn’t finish walking through it.
That has been the story of this season so far, with only a few exceptions. The Flyers have spent two miserable weeks looking listless, aside from one solid effort against Ottawa that still ended in a 2-1 regulation loss and whatever spark they found Tuesday night. Against that backdrop, the comeback had to feel like a lifeline.
Instead, it became another missed chance.
The shootout brought the night back to where it started, with the Flyers needing just a little more. They didn’t get it, and Vladar couldn’t make the final stop. Michkov did score in the shootout, but it wasn’t enough to save them.
The frustration goes beyond one loss now. Porter Martone, Denver Barkey and Matvei Michkov have all struggled to make much of an impact, even if Michkov provided that shootout goal.
Foerster and Owen Tippett, two of the team’s best pure shooters, still aren’t finding enough room to let it fly, and when they do, the puck is not going where they want. Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, both important pieces last season and both coming off hefty contract extensions, have taken steps backward.
Zegras at least got the tying goal; Drysdale later contributed to the mess when he was too slow getting to the bench and the Flyers were caught with a too many men on the ice penalty in overtime.
And that’s where the concern now turns to the bench. Rick Tocchet is already hearing it from fans, and every sloppy stretch only sharpens the pressure. The Flyers are skating through a punchless system with little to show for it, and the calls for change figure to get louder if this keeps going.
At this point, the season feels like it’s drifting in one direction. Maybe it’s not all the way lost yet.
Maybe there’s still some way out. But after another night like this, even that’s getting hard to see.
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Flyers Hit A Franchise Low And The Frustration Keeps Growing
The early-season slide for the Flyers kept getting heavier in Seattle, where they came away with a 3-2 shootout loss that pushed their winless start to a franchise-record eight games. Philadelphia got another solid effort in net from Dan Vladar, who stopped 29 shots, but it was not enough to overcome a Kraken team that found ways to hang around and then finish.
Bobby McMann was central to the outcome for Seattle, with his goal in regulation helping force extra time and his shootout winner sealing it in the fifth round. Philipp Grubauer turned aside 24 shots for the Kraken, and the latest missed opportunity leaves the Flyers still searching for something to turn the mood after a stretch that has already become part of team history. [Read more 🡒]
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For a club trying to build around young talent, the line between available pieces and untouchable ones matters. The Flyers are believed to have a core of prospects and young players they are not eager to discuss, but that only makes the rest of the roster more interesting to the teams calling around. Among the names that naturally come up are veterans on the blue line, the kind of players contenders tend to want when the calendar turns and needs become more obvious. [Read more 🡒]