For the sixth time in franchise history, the Philadelphia Flyers began the home slate of a season by hosting the Florida Panthers. It’s safe to say the challenge in those first five games wasn’t as high as it was Monday night, given Florida’s status as two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, flawless 3-0-0 record entering the night, and 2-1 victory over the Flyers last Thursday.
However, Philadelphia came out of the gates as the sharper team, taking an early lead and controlling play for much of the first two periods. So, when Seth Jones took Florida’s fourth penalty with 1:55 left in the second, it felt like a potential turning point. The Flyers had put together one quality man-advantage effort earlier in the period (albeit while Eetu Luostarinen was playing without a stick) and had a chance to come pretty close to burying their opposition.
Instead, they opened the door for a Florida comeback, conceding a sloppy shorthanded goal to Sam Reinhart. Sure enough, the Panthers eventually brought it back even in the third period. But the Flyers responded, as Sean Couturier‘s second goal of the game held up as the game-winner to get Philadelphia into the win column for the first time in the 2025-26 season.
Game Recap
After starting the season with two road games against contending teams, the Flyers came out energized in front of a large home crowd. Though they failed to convert on an early power play, a couple of big saves by new goaltender Dan Vladař got the crowd into the action. They really had a chance to erupt just short of nine minutes in, when a slick feed from captain Sean Couturier found Tyson Foerster in the slot. A quick stick handle and release later, and Van Halen’s Ain’t Talkin ‘Bout Love blasted from the newly-named Xfinity Mobile Arena’s speakers, signaling Foerster’s first goal of the 2025-26 season.
It held up as the only marker of the opening period, during which Philadelphia largely dominated. The Flyers held the Panthers to just five shots, their fewest of the young season, and collected over 80% of the expected goals at 5-on-5. Florida came out strong in the second period, taking it to the Flyers on the first shift and drawing an early penalty. But the Flyers gradually began tilting the ice back in their favor, culminating with Travis Konecny’s stretch pass to send Couturier on a breakaway. After being stymied on several strong chances earlier, Couturier buried a perfect wrist shot past Florida’s Danil Tarasov, who was making his season debut in net, to double Philadelphia’s lead.
Of course, that wouldn’t be the final goal of the second period, as the aforementioned Reinhart’s shorthanded goal slid over the goal line with 38 seconds remaining in the frame. His 11 shorthanded goals since the start of the 2023-24 season are easily the most in the NHL (four players, including Travis Konecny, are tied for second but trail Reinhart by four goals).
Sure enough, the Panthers would make that goal matter with another special teams tally about halfway through the third. This one came on the power play, with Florida finally breaking through a stout short-handed group for Philadelphia. Like in his first start, Dan Vladař’s strong night was marred by a glaring hiccup. Last Thursday, it was his inability to pick up a seemingly innocuous shot by Brad Marchand that became the game-winning goal. On Monday, it was his stumble in the crease that left him out of position for an easy goal by Sam Bennett to tie the score.
But Bennett’s good fortunes wouldn’t last forever. He and Aaron Ekblad were unable to separate Trevor Zegras from the puck down low after an abbreviated Flyers power play ended, allowing the 24-year-old to make his first highlight reel play as a Flyer. His backhand pass made it through the slot to Couturier for his second goal of the night, restoring Philadelphia’s lead with 4:10 remaining in regulation. An aggressive goalie pull with 3:04 remaining didn’t pay off for Paul Maurice, as Bobby Brink and Christian Dvorak both buried the empty-netters to put the game away.
“You can go either way, right?” said head coach Rick Tocchet about the team’s response after Florida’s tying goal. “You can crush your team and you feel sorry for yourself, but then you’re looking to break momentum… our fourth line went out there, did a nice job, and then you can get back in the game. I didn’t see us sink.”
It was important for the Flyers to win for a few reasons. To break the disappointment of Saturday’s overturned overtime winner for Brink. To secure Tocchet’s first win as head coach of his former team. And to give the Flyers much-needed points in an early-season gauntlet. Things won’t get easier opponent-wise as the Flyers host the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night, although Monday’s game did begin a stretch of nine of 10 games at home.
Florida is at the opposite end of the travel spectrum, as they started a five-game road trip with this contest. Their first back-to-back of the season awaits them as they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday and the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
