The Philadelphia Flyers just set a franchise low Sunday night, dropping their seventh straight game to kick off the season. Carolina defeated the Flyers 4-1, extending the misery for at least another two days and plunging the team deeper into an unprecedented hole.
A “Good Start” That Wasn’t Really
Look, the Flyers have been hurting, big time. We’re talking bad starts, rough games, and now key injuries. But Sunday? For the first ten minutes, they actually held their own against Carolina. After one period, they were still tied scoreless. Yeah, they got outshot 19-30 overall and their expected goal percentage was a dismal 17.93 five-on-five, which isn’t exactly dominating. So “good” is a stretch. But considering how brutally bad the previous six games had gone, not giving up one or two quick goals before the home crowd got comfortable was, weirdly, a positive heading into the first intermission. It’s wild to think that’s where the bar is.
Tocchet’s Blender and a Fleeting Hope
Coach Rick Tocchet spoke after Saturday’s game about the desperate need for his players to “stick together” during this tumultuous start. With zero rest between games, and the defending Cup champions staring them down for the second time in seven games, Philadelphia was, once again, trying to find some chemistry and mojo in front of a hometown crowd hoping for *anything* good to happen. Tocchet threw the lines into a blender, trying to spark something. Trevor Zegras was moved to center, flanked by Matvei Michkov and Michael Bunting. On the blueline, Oliver Bonk found himself on the top pairing with Travis Sanheim, allowing David Jiricek a more sheltered, third pairing spot with Simon Benoit.
Despite the shuffle, after that ‘good’ opening period, the Flyers found themselves down two goals after Carolina scored four in the second period: Andrei Svechnikov (10:16), Shayne Gostisbehere (13:45), Christian Dvorak (15:26), and Sebastian Aho (16:54). You’d think they might just fold up like a cheap umbrella at that point. But give them credit, they actually cut the deficit to one with Christian Dvorak’s goal! For a second there, you could feel that spark. That hope was very short-lived though. Carolina simply won a few puck battles, got a good bounce, and capitalized less than two minutes later to make it a two-goal lead again. Brutal.
Zegras Can’t Find His Game
Trevor Zegras is just not firing on all cylinders, which, honestly, sums up a lot of the Flyers right now. Finding himself with new wingers and back at center, Zegras looked to have a good chance about five minutes into the game after some nice passes through all three zones. Unfortunately, he totally flubbed the attempt. He really didn’t do a heck of a lot else after that, either. Just a tough watch for him and the team.
Carolina sealed the deal with Mark Jankowski scoring at 15:09 in the third period, making the final score 4-1. That’s seven straight losses to start the season, a franchise low. Can they snap this unprecedented losing streak in their next outing? Philly fans better hope so, because seven straight to kick off the year? That’s just soul-crushing.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Broad Street Hockey.
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