It was a better effort on Thursday than the night before, but the bar was on the floor after a historic beatdown in their home opener against the Penguins. After getting outshot 38-19 by the Penguins, the Flyers were once again primarily playing in their own zone against the Devils, yielding 44 shots on goal in New Jersey.

There were numerous turnovers and failed clears that allowed the Devils to reload in the offensive zone, and when the Flyers did get the puck out, all they could do was dump it in to get a fresh line on the ice. It was rare to see the Flyers get more than a one-and-done chance in the offensive zone or even really establish any pressure.

It was a shortened training camp, but that’s not an excuse for the Flyers. Rick Tocchet and the rest of the coaching staff need to find answers, and they have none right now.

“I have no idea. We just talked as coaches; we’re going to have to change some practices,” Tocchet said after Thursday’s loss. “We need more skill work. Unfortunately, we’ve only had five or six practices, but I don’t know. I don’t know. We are choppy with the puck. I agree.”

There were some positives, but not nearly enough in another poor performance by the Flyers.

“We chipped away, got the point, but we got a lot of work to do,” Tocchet said. “We have to up our skill level. We got to make some plays. Deception. Stepping inside. Things like that, offensively. And some guys are squeezing it, too. It’s only our second game. I don’t know why we’re squeezing it. We got to relax.”

If these were two games in the middle of the season, maybe you could overlook them. But they are the first two games of the season, perhaps leading to the players squeezing it, as Tocchet mentioned.

Blame falls on everyone in the organization at this point in the season. The Flyers looked unprepared to play a hockey game on Wednesday night, and weren’t much better against the Devils.

The players are searching for solutions, too.

“I wish I knew the answer. We’ve been leaving our goalies out to dry these first two games,” Christian Dvorak said after the overtime loss. “We just got to execute better, maybe just play simple hockey, and we could just build from there. We just got to be better, myself included; we all got to be better.”

Flyers’ growing pains in Tocchet’s new systems?

The team has looked out of sync in these first two games of the season, which could be due to some system changes on the ice. It’d certainly explain why they’re disconnected on the ice if they’re learning new systems on the fly.

“I’m not sure. If it keeps happening, I guess we got bigger issues, so we need to clean it up,” Travis Sanheim said on Thursday night. “Need to get back to playing the way that we know we can, and we know that works. I’m not sure why we’re kind of straying away from that when it’s worked in the past. So just need to get back to our game.”

It’s an interesting quote from Sanheim, who was the lone member of the leadership group to speak to the media on Thursday. On one hand, he could be saying that the problems are simply the players not playing up to their potential. But if we want to read into it a bit more, could he be taking a shot at Tocchet implementing changing systems despite having success last season?

If we want to go down that route, Dvorak also had a comment that could be colored in that light.

“We’re off to the slow start that we are. By the time you get the puck, you’re tired, you’re at the end of a shift, and you have to, instead of trying to make a play, get the puck deep and put the next line in a good spot,” he said. “I think if we do that, that’ll help us moving forward. I think we’re just trying to make too many plays in the neutral zone. Our forecheck was a strength last year. I think we got to get back to doing that.“

It’ll be something to keep in mind, at the very least, as the Flyers look to find their game in the days and weeks ahead.

They’ll return home for a matchup against the reigning Stanley Cup champions on Saturday night before embarking on a three-game road trip. If we’re looking for a positive, the Hurricanes will be on the second half of a back-to-back after playing a big, heavy Capitals team on Friday night.

So, with still 82 games to go, the Flyers have plenty of time to resolve their issues. They now have a point in the standings. And they proved they can score this season. That’s good. However, one player which hasn’t dressed for these two games is a forward who might hold far more importance than anyone might have thought. It’s especially odd considering he’s only played 53 total regular season and playoff games combined for the club. Yet, Denver Barkey might be that crucial part or cog in the wheel that the Flyers seem to be sorely lacking in week one of their 2026-27 season.

Barkey was injured during an exhibition game against the Capitals. He was favoring something after the hit in the first period, returned for a shift in the second, then went down the hallway to the locker room. He was placed on injured reserve to begin the season, and isn’t expected to be out an extended period of time. Nonetheless, it’s better to be cautious with an injury to a 21-year-old promising forward (and possible center) than rush him back and pay for it dearly down the road.

Winning record with Barkey in the lineup

When Denver Barkey played his first National Hockey League game just before the Christmas break in 2025, many were happily surprised. Flyers general manager Danny Briere decided to go with a youngster who would be a breath of fresh air, and eager to prove himself in a one-game or two-game sample size. At least that was the initial thought when Barkey had a pair of assists in a 5-4 shooutout loss to the Rangers in his first game. Although going pointless the next handful of games, Barkey looked like a sturdy buzzsaw, winning puck battles against guys far bigger, using his high hockey IQ to make plays, and generally contribute in all facets of the game. As a result, those handful of games turned into the rest of the season. And Philadelphia’s record in those games was 21-16-6. Granted, other players had a hand in the torrid homestretch. But Barkey did his fair share in changing the club’s dynamic, and giving different line combinations far more offensive flair. With five goals and 12 assists in those 43 games, the youngster was a bright spot in the latter half of the season.

On the three lines last year Barkey spent over 50 minutes five-on-five with, all three were over 50 per cent in terms of Corsi For. In just over 160 minutes with Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett (53.67), nearly 84 minutes with Noah Cates and Matvei Michkov (51.15), and over 56 minutes with Tippett and Trevor Zegras (54.55), the play generally tilted more towards the offensive zone than the defensive zone. Barkey wasn’t solely responsible for that, but he certainly had a hand in it.

So, with the knowledge that Barkey is a very good, smart, dependable two-way player, and one that looks comfortable down the middle, maybe the Flyers are missing him far more than anyone expected. Without Barkey in the lineup, head coach Rick Tocchet clearly doesn’t have his lines truly settled on. Granted, injuries are part of the game, and any line can change due to injury or poor play. Yet the youngster has a Konecny-esque feel to him, minus the fact he rarely crosses that line into undisciplined penalties. Whenever Barkey returns, and provided the Flyers remain healthy, putting him back into the lineup should add another piece that will perhaps make things fall into place far smoother than the first two games showed.

Barkey’s return should help top three lines

As it stands after two games, there is no real top line the Flyers are tossing out. The combinations were all over the place against the Penguins as Tocchet tried to find some semblance of a pulse. While the lines were a bit more structured and cohesive against the Devils, none of the lines truly looked like they could drive the play forward. The only instance of sustained pressure against New Jersey was in the second period, when an extended shift (and a long shift to make a change) hemmed the Devils in as Couturier and Noel Acciari put in the grunt work before changing. Michkov then kept the pressure on but the Flyers didn’t capitalize.

The return of Barkey should steady the lines a bit more, or provide some much needed consistency and playmaking, even if it doesn’t provide a goal every shift. The Flyers never stacked any shifts together in the first two games that gave the defense and their goaltenders any kind of break. A rope-a-dope blueprint might work once or twice a season, but has no long-term success. Barkey’s return could finally break open the floodgates a little more, possibly giving Michkov (one of the lone bright spots) and Cates more jump than they currently have. As well, it’s possible that the first unit power play might see a subtle change with Barkey replacing one of the four forwards. Or at least replacing somebody on the second unit. His return gives the Flyers options.

In the simplest terms, adding a forward like Barkey gives the Flyers more combinations to finally get something going positively. Whether he’s with Michkov, or finds himself moving into the top six down the middle or on the wing, Barkey is going to be a sparkplug that was sorely lacking over the first two games. While the likes of Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Nick Seeler all looked like they were putting the effort in New Jersey, the Flyers are going to sink or swim with their youth this season and in the seasons to come. Not that it’s a make or break year for the club, as that window for contention is still a bit from opening. It’s just that Barkey and other unnamed youngsters are going to have to carry their load of the freight if Philadelphia is to have success.

The Flyers are clearly not looking like the club that almost dominated the last quarter of 2025-26. Perhaps getting Barkey back goes a very long way to avoiding an early season hole they can’t crawl out of.

After suffering the incredibly embarrassing result of losing 7-0 in your season opener to your archrival, the Flyers were looking to sweep that game away just 24 hours later as they visited the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. It was a game that at least had potential to turn the tide of the season very early on. They could have easily come out and make us all believe that loosing the shot battle 38-19 and getting blown out in your own building, was a complete fluke.

Unfortunately, they did not do that at all. They looked like the same exact, porous team defensively and had zero connection offensively to actually put the puck into the net. Fortunately for them, the end result was a 3-2 overtime loss to their other rivals and they got to get one single loser point out of it to save face.

The only reason why they were able to not get blown out once again and have every single one of us go into a manic episode was down to one man: Joseph Woll.

Joseph Woll rescued Philadelphia from mass panic

The 28-year-old goaltender was making his first official start for the Flyers. After coming over in an offseason trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Woll was seen as someone who is purely an upgrade on Sam Ersson and can maybe provide Dan Vladar some relief from his heavy workload. Now, we’re dreaming of maybe something more.

Woll stopped 41 of the 44 shots he faced through the 60 minutes of regulation and overtime. That alone is extremely impressive and the sole reason why the Flyers were even able to play some extra hockey and not finish their first two games with zero points earned.

It goes even a step further. Woll faced a total of 12 high-danger scoring chances against and allowed just one goal from that — and it was the overtime goal, so does it even really count since every chance in that extra frame would be high-danger? Woll was a perfect 7-for-7 in high-danger scoring chances against at 5-on-5, and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The newest Flyers goalie was wiping away chances that some goaltenders would easily let in behind them. Most notably, this early contender for Save of the Season while killing a penalty to keep the game tied in the third period.

Woll absolutely robbed Jesper Bratt from getting his first goal of the season in this hyperathletic save. He didn’t get all of it or glove it down in some big, overdramatic show. It was a pure deflection to keep it out of his net and his mechanics are good enough that he was covered while sprawling out like that.

Flyers express ultimate gratitude for their new goalie

This stolen loser point — so that the Flyers aren’t heading to the arena before facing the reigning Stanley Cup champions on Saturday with the real potential to come out of the first week of the season 0-3-0 — had the Flyers praising Woll after the game. They perfectly understood just how terrible they were defensively Thursday night and how Woll really helped them not look even more disastrous.

“If it wasn’t for Woller there, it could have been a lot worse,” Travis Sanheim said. “He kept battling all night. We wouldn’t have been in this game without him and the performance from him. Obviously it’s good to see and happy for him in the way he was able to play.”

“Obviously, Woll was outstanding. He was terrific,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’re lucky we got a point because of Woller,” Christian Dvorak added.

Lucky is the right word to use.

If they had anyone else who wasn’t capable of going perfect on every high-danger attempt in regulation, or just any average NHL goalie performance, this would have been a disaster. The Devils would be scoring four or five goals no problem with league-average goaltending. But instead, the Flyers got this new guy in town who appears to be capable of stealing games like this.

Hopefully, the Flyers don’t have to rely on their goalies to steal games very often this season, but as they continue to try and figure out the major problems facing them this first week of the 2026-27 NHL season, it’s something good to have.

It feels extremely weird for the Flyers to have a capable goaltending tandem. Dan Vladar was far from good on Wednesday letting the Pittsburgh Penguins of all teams score a touchdown on you, but we will (for now) blame rust and his previous injury preventing him from getting a real training camp. If Vladar can return to even 80% of what he was last season, and Woll just be an above-average netminder with a few performances like he had in Newark, then there is really something special cooking.

The Flyers have another chance to try and not embarrass themselves on Saturday night as they face the Carolina Hurricanes. They never win against these guys so we are perfectly fine accepting a loss and then some real panic settling in. Won’t that be fun?

*It was embarrassing! What more can you say! [The Athletic]

*We have a lot of questions about how exactly that could have gone so sideways for the Flyers, but the Flyers themselves are still sort of looking around for answers. [PHLY]

*If nothing else, this was a good reminder for the Flyers that they need to turn the page and focus solely on what they do next after last season’s success. [BSH]

*Because, as we’ve seen, complacency kills! [BSH]

*Truly, it’s a game that should have been a real wakeup call for the Flyers. [Inquirer]

*But, as it turns out, it was not enough of one to propel them to a win over a much more difficult to match up with Devils team. [BSH]

*There’s a lot to unpack from that one, but there’s not a ton of unquestionable positives that we can pull from it. [NBCSP]

*It’s hard to pivot away from all of that, with all of the feelings involved, but we’ll make an effort. The Flyers made a little move yesterday while the big club was gearing up for their game, making a prospect trade to shake up the pipeline a little bit. [BSH]

The Basics

First period: 11:12 – Rasmus Ristolainen (Sanheim, Konecny)
Second period: 17:58 – Dougie Hamilton (unassisted)
Third period: 5:33 – Travis Sanheim (Couturier), 9:44 – Luke Hughes (Evangelista)
Overtime: 3:23 – Jack Hughes (Bratt)
SOG: 25 (PHI) – 44 (NJD)

Some Takeaways

Another inauspicious start

After the outright walloping that the Flyers took in their opener on Wednesday, they were surely eager to turn the page and get things moving in the right direction, and do it quickly. If they wanted to accomplish all of that, it was going to be particularly important for them to be ready to go right from the jump in this one, to bring a tidy effort in the first period, but this was unfortunately not what the Flyers were able to deliver this time around.

Instead of a focused attack, the Flyers saw the puck turned over inside their own blue line on the opening shift, which turned into a chance for the Devils, and then found themselves hemmed into their own zone on back to back shifts, chasing the game while the Devils got their cycle going and began to pour on the chances. It made for a pretty significant challenge for the Flyers early on, as they had to fight even harder to get themselves into this game, seeking a control of play which would ultimately be quite difficult to come by for them.

Of course, the silver lining here is that the Flyers did still manage to survive the surge of Devils chances, and got a bit of luck for themselves to pull into the lead in the opening frame, thanks to a shot from Rasmus Ristolainen sailing through traffic and past Jake Allen. It’s an outcome that they would surely take, but it remains that the cracks in their process left them vulnerable to a reversal of that same luck.

Joseph Woll comes up big

Thursday night also saw new goaltender Joseph Woll make his regular season debut for the Flyers, and in the face of all of the challenges that were thrown at him in this debut, there could not have possibly been a bigger difference maker for the Flyers across the whole of this game. The lopsidedness of the chances in this one is going to be a major point of emphasis in the breakdown of this game, and truly the only reason that the score was not similarly lopsided is because Woll brought his A-game to this one.

With a whopping 44 shots on goal faced on the night — and 43 scoring chances generated in front of him — there wasn’t as much done to insulate him and make his job easier as he might have liked, but he was largely really stable in his net, picking up shots overwhelmingly well through traffic and delivering a couple of highlight reel saves along the way. In all, it’s hard to pin any of those three goals on him, with the breakdowns by the defense the primary issues, but it’s still surely a result that he won’t be overly pleased with. All the same, it was a meaningful effort that he was able to bring to a challenging situation, and just about as positive of a true first impression in a meaningful game as we might have hoped to see from him.

The penalty kill delivers

One of the more notable positives to come out of this one, though, was the play of the Flyers’ penalty kill. This was a busy night for them, with four minor penalties to kill, but they were able to come up perfect in their deployments, even as three of those penalties saw key killer pulled out of commission. It may not have been the most textbook of showings, but the penalty killers were able to do well to get themselves into lanes to break up the Devils’ cycle and ultimately chase them out of the zone, and if they weren’t able to do that, they came up with some big blocks to keep a few shots from getting to Woll, or else got out of the way to make sure that he could see any unblocked shots coming at him. It was a tidy enough bit of business, and that was enough for them in this one.

Now, while we’ll certainly take the positives of their play on the penalty kill and hope that they can continue to build on those positive returns, the greater hope is that the Flyers won’t put themselves in the position of needing to kill so many penalties going forward. We could certainly also quibble about that third penalty on Couturier — which was called as a board from a farther vantage point, but in reality was something closer to a whiffed-on check — but the reality is still that the Flyers were not putting themselves in the best of positions in this one, and the larger-than-optimal volume of penalties was a symptom of the Flyers’ rustiness, the amount of time spent chasing in this one. They largely got away with it here, but that’s not something that they can expect to continue much longer. They have to help themselves out here too.

Back to basics

We made particular note of the shot blocking work that the Flyers were able to deliver on the penalty kill already, but it’s worth acknowledging that they were able to bring a good bit of that across all situations. And while this might not have been the flashiest element of defense that they could have brought to this matchup, it does gesture towards a willingness to return to the fundamentals and then build up from there, leaning on their positioning to get at least a bit more of the job done.

But this, too, comes with a bit of an asterisk — which is a big time emerging theme of the breakdown of the Flyers’ game here — as that work on the fundamentals didn’t extend across the whole of the game, and the Flyers had a few ugly breakdowns along the way (the ugliest of which saw their defense caught puck watching on a backbreaker of a second tying goal in the third period). It may have been a step in the right direction, but moments like that are a clear reminder of the work that’s left to be done.

A note on chances

And to close this one out, a return to address the elephant in the room. After allowing 38 shots in Wednesday’s opener against the Penguins, the Flyers followed that up by allowing 44 shots in this next time out. It’s a dangerous game to be playing, to be sure, but this is particularly true when the offense is as anemic as it has been over these last couple of games. This game was no exception — beyond the meager 25 shots on goal registered for the Flyers across all situation, they saw themselves more than doubled up on scoring chances (13-30) and Expected Goals (1.07-2.5) at 5-on-5. It almost goes without saying, but we’ll say it all the same, that this is simply not a recipe to winning hockey games.

Now, perhaps some progress can be made towards generating more offense if the Flyers are able to establish a good mix with their lines and then just let them roll long enough to establish some meaningful chemistry, but when we recall this same type of issue plaguing the Flyers for much of last season, the eye still turns back to the broader underlying process. With four games on the schedule through these first six days to open up the season for the Flyers, they don’t have a ton of practice time at their disposal to tinker with their systems foundation, but something has to give for them before too long, and it will have to come from both players and coaching staff alike, if they want to avoid going on a proper skid to begin this critical new season.

All stats via Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com

The Philadelphia Flyers announced a swap of two AHL forwards on Thursday afternoon, sending Devin Kaplan to the Seattle Kraken for David Goyette.

The Flyers drafted Kaplan in the third round (69th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. He spent three years at Boston University and made his NHL debut at the end of the 2024-25 season after turning pro. However, he spent all of last season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, recording just 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in 49 games.

Kaplan’s final season in the Flyers organization was ended early due to an upper-body injury at the end of February. He was healthy for Development Camp but clearly didn’t show enough then or in Rookie Camp to stick around in the organization.

Goyette was also a part of the 2022 NHL Draft class, getting selected in the second round (61st overall) by the Seattle Kraken, just eight picks ahead of Kaplan.

While Kaplan was a more physical player at 6-foot-3, Goyette stands at 5-foot-11 and may have a higher upside.

The forward put up 92 points (41 goals, 51 assists) in 63 games as an alternate captain with the Sudbury Wolves in the 2022-23 season, and 117 points (40 goals, 77 assists) in 68 games the following year. That scoring touch hasn’t translated to the professional game, though, as Goyette has recorded just 28 points (9 goals, 19 assists) in 106 AHL games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Given the depth of potential bottom-six forward types in the Flyers’ prospect pool, this trade makes sense for the team. Kaplan was clearly behind quite a few forwards in camp and was likely destined to play in the bottom six for the Phantoms this season.

So why not take a chance on a former second-round pick? Even if he was only eight picks ahead of Kaplan. Maybe Goyette is what he is at this point, but there’s always a chance that a change of scenery from one valley to another can help unlock some of his offense.

However, there is another aspect to Goyette: he was suspended 20 games in February for violating the terms of the AHL/PHPA Performance Enhancing Substance Program. The forward returned for four games at the end of the regular season, but did not record a point in those contests.

While this trade likely won’t have an impact at the NHL level, Briere and the Flyers are once again optimizing their AHL roster this season. We saw a few AHL trades last season, and this is the first for Philadelphia this year.

The Phantoms wrapped up their slate of preseason games with a 3-0 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Tuesday night. They open the regular season on Friday night at home against the Hartford Wolf Pack. They then have a week off before hosting the Cleveland Monsters for a back-to-back the following weekend.

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m.
How to watch/listen:
📺: ESPN+
📻: 97.5 The Fanatic

Pregame reading

• Well, if you actually want to read further on the 7-0 disaster that was the Flyers’ season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins, we have some takeaways from that game. [BSH]
• After the game, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet had a lot of choice words about the team and the result. A lot of talk about how it was the worst defensive work he’s ever seen since he’s been in Philadelphia. [BSH]
• 3 centers the Flyers could maybe get to recover from losing out on Leo Carlsson. [BSH]

Pregame watching

Projected lineups

Philadelphia Flyers

Owen Tippett — Trevor Zegras — Porter Martone
Tyson Foerster — Christian Dvorak — Travis Konecny
Alex Bump — Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Carl Grundstrom — Sean Couturier — Noel Acciari

Travis Sanheim — Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York — Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler — Simon Benoit

Joseph Woll
(Dan Vladar)

New Jersey Devils

Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Luke Evangelista
Anthony Mantha — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt
Arseny Gritsyuk — Evan Rodrigues — Dawson Mercer
Amadeus Lombardi — Cody Glass — Stefan Noesen

Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce
Jonas Seigenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Brendan Dillon — Declan Chisholm

Jake Allen
(Nico Daws)

Storylines to watch

Can they recover from being absolutely embarrassed?

The Flyers desperately need to put in a good performance here. Maybe the biggest must-win game this early in a season that has ever happened in Philadelphia sports history. The worst part of it is that we can’t even think of the possibility of one player being able to shine against the Devils. With every single Flyer having a terrible night that led to that disaster, it’s extremely hard to think of them making any noise.

It would be one thing if someone like Owen Tippett scored a goal and maybe continued that playoff physicality — he did finish the game with six hits so it’s there a little bit — then we could justifiably hope that he continues playing well and the Flyers can lean on him for some offense. But with absolutely no one putting in solid work on either side of the puck, it’s a barren wasteland of expectations. Let’s just hope that the 24 hours proceeding the season opener features some heightened focus.

How will the defense work? Will they prevent anything at all?

We can perfectly accept the Flyers having just 19 shots on goal in their season opener. We’re used to it. Rick Tocchet is the coach. It is the absence of any defense that really surprised us and completely ruined the game. The fact that the Flyers gave up a total of 38 shots on goal, and 21 high-danger chances is the thing that is absolutely appalling and might have us hit the big red button in a blind panic.

To not go into an absolute meltdown, we need to see an improved defense that is focused on preventing scoring chances. Unfortunately, they are up against a way better roster in the Devils who have scorers on all four lines and a pretty good blue line who is capable of moving the puck up the ice. It’s going to be a massive test.

Facing a stronger opponent and we’re worried

While the Devils did not make the playoffs last year, it’s not like they’re not a talented team. Led by the duo of Hischier and Hughes, their forward group can be big and play a speed game if they want to. On the blue line, they’re not the rushers up the ice but they play a very solid game with some underrated offensive players like Hamilton, and some supreme defense-first defensemen like Pesce and Siegenthaler.

Their skaters are what will take them to places that they want to be. It’s now on the Flyers to be that more stingy defensive presence to soften those skaters and then maybe take advantage of them having a horrible situation in between the pipes.

That was one of the buzzwords used time and time again by the Philadelphia Flyers in the offseason and training camp. From the top down, general manager Danny Briere and head coach Rick Tocchet were worried about the players showing some complacency after last season — or rather weren’t worried, given how hungry this team is.

But if there was one word to describe the team’s effort in the home opener on Wednesday night against the Penguins, complacent sums it all up.

There was confidence in South Philadelphia and the Xfinity Mobile Arena leading up to the game. The Flyers were hosting the Penguins after eliminating them in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And they were ready to take a step forward with a full season of Porter Martone, a healthy Tyson Foerster, Matvei Michkov looking like his best self, and a year of Tocchet hockey under their belts. All signs pointed to making that next step, and the T-shirts given out for the home opener with “Here for the Rise” embossed on them gave that impression as well.

That rise didn’t happen, at least not in Game 1.

The only time the fans rose was for occasional scrums in a game that was already clearly lost. And then again at the end of the second period as fans beat the traffic to get home at a respectable hour after a 7:30 p.m. start. That rise kept coming with the Penguins piling it on in the third period, including Pittsburgh’s sixth goal that you could really only laugh at as the puck bounced off the end boards before Dan Vladar kicked it into his own net.

For all the talk of how the Flyers noticed the standing ovation the fans gave them after getting swept by the Carolina Hurricanes, it was those same fans who booed the team off the ice after each period. By the end of the game, only the die-hards and Penguins fans were left, giving them one final reminder of their pitiful performance.

Flyers were definition of complacent in 7-0 loss

You can try to use the shortened training camp and veterans only playing in two preseason games as an excuse, but those limitations are set for every team across the league. That includes the Penguins, who were the only team prepared to play a hockey game on Wednesday night.

The Flyers rested on their laurels. Sure, Briere raised the floor in the offseason, but his swing to raise the ceiling ultimately missed, and the 18 skaters taking the ice in the home opener were largely the same.

They had a calm sense of well-being and security. They were in a state of satisfaction after eliminating the Penguins last postseason.

It’s not as if Pittsburgh made many key additions in the offseason — in fact, they lost Anthony Mantha and were missing Bryan Rust and Ben Kindel to start the season. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang were one step closer to retirement. There was no reason to really worry; they thought they could run it back and simply ramp things up in the regular season after losing to a team of AHLers in their final preseason contest. That loss was on Aleksei Kolosov anyway, right?

But they failed to prepare for the piss and vinegar that the Penguins were building up all offseason long after the Flyers ended what could be Crosby’s last playoff run early. And, as we all know, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what the Flyers looked like as the goals kept coming for the Penguins. They were prepared to fail.

And, sure, it’s only one game. They all count the same in the standings. The sky may not be falling, and they could very well get right back at it with a win against a cold Devils team on Thursday night.

But that home opener is going to stick in the minds of not only Flyers fans but hockey fans across the country, as it was nationally televised on TNT. It should be in the minds of the entire Flyers organization as well.

They hung their hat on the support they received after getting swept in the second round. Philadelphia is such a smart hockey city, and the Flyers fans recognized the effort the team put in to exceed expectations last season. Those same smart fans recognized the effort on opening night, too, and that’s the current worry for the Flyers faithful: are we getting fooled again?

Two things were obvious from last night. One was the Flyers looked like they spent the summer getting a little ahead of themselves. Believing what was said about them. Or their collective heads got much too big for anyone’s good. The other was that the Penguins had circled this game on their calendar since the schedule was released. They sought revenge for last spring. Mission accomplished. While they didn’t shake hands or eliminate the Flyers after opening night, the sour taste over the summer at being eliminated by Cam York and crew clearly energized the Penguins. Full marks to them for the beatdown. How the Flyers weren’t able to at least anticipate and come close to matching that intensity was problematic.

While the Flyers have almost no time to lick their wounds before they face the New Jersey Devils in what now seems like a far more important second game of the season than it should be, Philadelphia should now realize they aren’t that good to coast. Or, perhaps more succinctly, not as good as they thought they might be, this after playing two rounds of playoff hockey last year. Riding a wave of past glories results in a thunderous fall, one they should’ve felt over 60 minutes last night. And should still be feeling. However, there is plenty of time to right the ship, compete, and let the chips fall where they may. Nobody is going to feel sorry for the Flyers this year. And far more clubs are going to be ready for them, unlike last season when they might have snuck up on a couple of clubs down the stretch. The important lesson to take from Wednesday evening is that going through the motions accomplishes nothing. It’s a stark reminder that shouldn’t be forgotten anytime soon. If they go on a three-game or four-game winning streak after opening night, it should still sting.

This result should also hit harder than had Philadelphia been down 4-0, mounted a furious comeback in the third to make it 4-3, and lose 5-3 thanks to a Penguins empty-netter. The Flyers aren’t talented enough to play 20 minutes and expect two points — not that they played any of Wednesday’s affair. That’s not how this roster was constructed. Every player has a role, and needs to perform that role with pinpoint precision. Only then do they stand a chance at winning. Otherwise, 7-0 losses become far more routine, and this rebuild begins losing steam before its out of the loading dock.

It’s rare that the opening night could be a turning point in a season, but this might be a very sobering wake-up call to a club that has won nothing of true value in decades. It should be. If they don’t put the effort in, and simply rest on what they’ve done previously, they will be hard-pressed to get a sniff of the playoff hunt this season. The Flyers looked more like a draft lottery team last night than one ready to take the next step forward: no defensive structure, no plan, no synergy, no real energy. A complete no-show start to finish. Not good.

Glass should still be half full for the Flyers

Having said all that, there is reason for optimism, and not even Wednesday’s loss could persuade people that the Flyers are a sinking ship. Or a stinking ship for that matter. Porter Martone will learn from last night that he needs to play better. As will everyone else who played last night. The power play’s first unit looked marginally better than the second unit, even though they didn’t finish or execute. It’s a baby step, but a step forward. Dan Vladar never allowed that amount of goals since giving up eight while a member of Calgary in an 8-3 drubbing against Tampa on Dec. 12, 2024. He should rebound from this. Matvei Michkov looked not too bad, and far more energetic than this point 365 days ago.

Meanwhile, other little glimmers of hope included Noel Acciari winning 11 of 14 faceoffs (79 per cent), and Trevor Zegras being over 40 per cent on the dot (6-14 for 43 per cent efficiency). Again, not a lot to hang your hat on. But it’s evidence that the team doesn’t need some drastic change to resolve systemic issues. The issue Wednesday was there was no system in place.

Most importantly, the defensive system the Flyers utilized to near perfection last year has to return as soon as possible. And they have almost exactly the same personnel to get that job done. The approach (if one can kindly call it that) the skaters decided to use against Pittsburgh blew up in their collective faces. It’s not up for debate. A return to strangling the neutral zone, aggressive forechecking, and a drive to work will clear up a lot of the issues seen on opening night. If they return to this sooner than later, the rest should take care of itself. And as a whole, the Flyers didn’t forget to play hockey all of a sudden, even though they played the part on Wednesday night. It’s a damning indictment of what can happen when the effort is not there.

The talent is there to compete, but the willingness to work and win puck battles should be apparent in the opening 20 minutes against the host Devils on Thursday night. Any professional takes pride in their work, and is only too eager to redeem themselves if things go astray. The Flyers used their proverbial mulligan right out of the gate this season. A rarity for any team. This can’t (and shouldn’t) happen again. If anything, Philadelphia proved they were a resilient bunch last year, and shouldn’t need another trouncing to drive that point home.

Stats courtesy of NHL.com and ESPN.com.

*After the game, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet called out his team. He said a whole lot about how no battles were won, the defense stunk, no one really tried out there, they couldn’t get into the zone, and just about everything else that a bad hockey team does. Could it lead to some lineup changes? Maybe. [BSH]

*Those who pay attention to a lot of things with numbers and odds and all that, you know the oddsmakers, seem to expect the Flyers young stars to have massive seasons. They are setting odds of Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone having monster years. [BSH]

*If you want to really look back on some GOOD season openers to wash that miserable experience from your mind, check these out. We took a look back at three season openers who were easily the best in Flyers history. [BSH]

*Christian Dvorak is in an interesting spot on the Flyers roster. He was good for them last year, but his presence as a middle-six center feels like it limits this team’s ceiling. So, is he good enough for the Flyers to then succeed when he’s in the role that he is in? [BSH]

*Speaking of bad stuff, let’s take a look at the 10 worst value contracts in the NHL. And surprise: There are no Flyers on this list. [Daily Faceoff]

*Maple Leafs youngster and former teammate of our very own Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk, Easton Cowan, is having a great start to his season. And he could be a big part of the rejuvenation of that team up north. [Sportsnet]

*There are already some haters getting in the chat. Oilers’ Tristan Jarry has been voted as the NHL’s worst goaltender by a group of goalie experts. That’s not great. [Edmonton Journal]