3 Takeaways From Struggling Flyers’ 3-2 OT Loss to Hurricanes

Just under ten years ago, Shayne Gostisbehere scored an overtime winner in Philadelphia in a game between the Flyers and the Carolina Hurricanes. Then, about a month later, he did it again.

The reaction when it happened a third time on Saturday night was much different. That, of course, is mainly because Gostisbehere plays for the visitors now, who got their third win of the season when his one-timer rang in off the post past a screened Joseph Woll, who delivered a heroic effort to stop 37 of 40 shots and drag his teammates to a point in the standings for the second straight game.

The rest of the group, however, once again played poorly. Owen Tippett had some juice, and he scored to get the Flyers on the board after Sebastian Aho struck just 10 seconds in. Matvei Michkov had a nifty finish for his first of the season to put the Flyers in front in the second. But the Canes kept attacking in waves, tying the game in the third on another Aho tally, this one on the power play, and holding the Flyers to six shots or fewer in every period.

Man Down

The Flyers learned how important Rasmus Ristolainen was to them last season. They could have easily traded him at the deadline, but instead Ristolainen settled into top-pair duties with Travis Sanheim down the stretch and delivered in his long-awaited first playoff run. That would make losing him tough to swallow.

But unfortunately, the injury-prone defenseman couldn’t make it through Saturday’s game. Stung by a late second-period shot block, Ristolainen spent the final few minutes of the frame in the dressing room. He returned to start the third period, but only for one shift, not to return for the rest of the night.

The Flyers have decent depth options on the back end. Simon Benoit’s first two games with the Flyers have gone fine, and David Jiříček had a solid season debut on Saturday. 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk is a call-up option, and Ty Murchison looked decent in a brief stint last season. But asking any of them to play a top-four role is untenable, and a Benoit-Jiříček third pair feels shaky.

Familiar Concerns

It’s only three games. It’s only eight opportunities. But once again, not much is going right for the Flyers’ power play.

It’s so ugly that despite Rick Tocchet saying he’d “be an idiot” to break up the top unit without an extended look, he did just that, removing Porter Martone in place of Travis Konecny. Konecny created one of the few dangerous chances the Flyers mustered at 5-on-4, a rush pass for a Tyson Foerster one-timer. Matvei Michkov nearly gave Konecny the same look, but an active stick from Pyotr Kochetkov denied the chance.

However, the Flyers spent way too much time in their defensive zone up a man, even conceding a few moderately threatening shots. Their first power play ended about halfway through when Konecny was whistled for a hold. They are now goalless in eight tries to begin the season, and the loud boos permeated most of their time on the man advantage throughout the night. Even a brief 4-on-3 chance in overtime couldn’t produce a breakthrough.

Woll’s World

Dan Vladař will almost certainly be back in net for the Flyers’ next game on Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But they’ll have three games in four nights after that beginning on Thursday, culminating with a rematch against the Canes in Philadelphia, and you could make a strong argument Woll should start two of them.

His athleticism and compete were again on display throughout the 63 minutes or so the Flyers played on Saturday. The first-shot goal was stoppable, as Woll got a large chunk of it with his glove, but it was from a prime area after an unwise deflection into the middle by Christian Dvorak. He did benefit from post hits in regulation from Andrei Svechnikov and Gostisbehere.

However, he kept the Flyers in a game they were outplayed for the second time in three days. His 1.79 goals saved above expected, per Moneypuck.com, were even more than he managed on Thursday. Predicting him to step up is looking good so far. Just ignore the part right above it.

What’s Next

The first extended road trip of 2026-27 brings the Flyers three straight playoff teams from last season. After the Lightning, the Flyers visit the Ottawa Senators before wrapping up with the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Carolina and Tampa Bay have both dominated the Flyers in recent seasons. Since 2018-19, the Lightning have the best record against the Flyers with an .850 points percentage, and Carolina is fifth at .804 (excluding the Utah Mammoth, who are 4-0-0). The Lightning shellacked the Flyers last season, winning all three meetings by at least three goals, including a shutout in their lone home game. If the Flyers can’t make some major adjustments, things could get ugly again.