The Philadelphia Flyers were a resilient team in the first half of the season.
Through their first 41 games, the Flyers only lost consecutive games five times, and only one time were those back-to-back losses in regulation. Their longest losing streak was three games, but they earned a point in each of those losses against top teams in the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes.
So when the Flyers dominated the Ducks again in a Trevor Zegras revenge game to end the first half of the season, it may have been hard to imagine this five-game losing streak they’re now on.
But, in a way, it’s been justified.
The Flyers lost both Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale to injury in that win over the Ducks, and then Travis Konecny exited the next game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after two periods. That was a game that the Flyers should have won, but their power-play woes came back to haunt them as they failed to add on any insurance, ultimately losing 2-1 to Toronto in overtime.
Konecny joined Brink and Drysdale on the shelf for their next game, the first of two against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mind you, the Lightning came into that game on an eight-game winning streak. A hot stretch that included victories over top teams like the Hurricanes and Avalanche. It was already a tall task going against a hot Tampa team, and doing so without three (four if you include Tyson Foerster) rather important players — please don’t argue about whether Brink is “important” in the comments — made it even tougher.
Add on top of that a shaky Sam Ersson in the crease, and the Flyers had no answers for Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning. That resulted in the Flyers’ worst loss of the season on Saturday night, and things didn’t get better in their matchup on Monday night against Tampa Bay, even with Konecny returning to the lineup and Dan Vladar in net.
A loss in a game that they should have won against the Maple Leafs quickly turned into a three-game losing streak, and a road back-to-back in Buffalo and Pittsburgh didn’t help this week. Neither did the sudden injury to Rasmus Ristolainen and Vladar, nor did the Sabres somehow becoming a powerhouse in recent weeks.
You can moan, “It’s the Sabres!” all you want, but this isn’t the same Buffalo squad that you might be thinking of. They’re 15-2-0 with a goal differential of 65-40 since December 9, and took down the Canadiens in their second half of a back-to-back on Thursday night.
It was truly unfortunate timing for the Flyers to run into the Lightning and Sabres, and having to go to Pittsburgh for the back-to-back on Thursday night was a spanking waiting to happen.
It may have been Ersson’s last chance to prove himself in Philadelphia, and after allowing a third goal early in the third period, but not being pulled until after the Flyers scored, that may have been his last game in Orange and Black.
All of this isn’t to absolve the Flyers for their play and, more importantly, effort over the past week. There have been plenty of mental and physical lapses on the ice, and when you combine that with injuries, a condensed schedule, and some hot opponents? Things can go from bad to worse pretty quickly.
Luckily, the Flyers get a bit of a reprieve when they return home to host the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. This is as close to a must-win game as you can get at this point in the season for the Flyers given their recent skid and upcoming schedule.
Flyers must win Saturday matinee vs. Rangers
For as bad as things are in Philadelphia right now, things are even worse for the Rangers. They’ve lost their last eight indoor games, getting outscored 41-17 in that span. They somehow kept their perfect record in outdoor games intact in the Winter Classic against the Panthers, but that was the exception to the norm.
It’s gotten so bad for the Rangers that Chris Drury issued a message to the fans on Friday afternoon.
A Message from Chris Drury to Our Fans pic.twitter.com/JVimBJ59B7
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 16, 2026
Since beating the Flyers on December 20 — which, once again, was a game that Philadelphia should’ve won –, the Rangers are just 2-7-2 with 30 goals scored and 47 goals allowed. They’ve been dealing with injuries, most notably to former Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and former Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin, and are now at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Losing to the Rangers on Saturday afternoon at home simply can not happen.
The Flyers finally showed some fight in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, coming from an unlikely source. Matvei Michkov dropped the gloves for his first career fight to defend Denver Barkey after a hit from Blake Lizotte. Michkov went on to end his goal drought in the third period, thanks to an assist from his new linemate.
Looking at each of the last five losses, you can understand why the Flyers lost those games. You might not have liked the result, or more so the effort, but none of them were particularly surprising losses.
It’s not quite time to panic, but if they lose to the Rangers, the glass case is coming off that button, especially with a road trip out west to Vegas, Utah, and Colorado on tap next week.