In what was one of the most boring games of the season, the Flyers snoozed their way to a sloppy 4-1 loss in Seattle on Sunday night. Messy neutral zone play and little offensive creativity abound, the Flyers couldn’t solve Phillip Grubauer in their first game out of the holiday break.
The basics
First period: No scoring
Second period: 3:48 – Jordan Eberle (Kappo Kakko, Matty Beniers)
Third period: 5:49 – Chandler Stephenson (Eeli Tolvanen), 17:30 – Eeli Tolvanen (Stephenson) (EN), 18:03 – Carl Grundstrom (Rodrigo Abols, Nikita Grebenkin), 18:24 – Tolvanen (EN)
SOG: 32 (PHI) – 20 (SEA)
First period things
The opening 20 minutes had no score, and it was a pretty sluggish start for the Flyers coming out of the holiday break. Through the first eight or so minutes of the game, the Kraken had the Flyers on their heels a bit, and the Flyers couldn’t move the puck very well through all three zones, registering just one shot in the opening eight minutes.
However, once Nikita Grebenkin drew a penalty at the 7:40 mark, the Flyers really gained the upper hand in puck possession and dictating play. Against the dead-last Kraken penalty kill, the Flyers came up empty, but they generated numerous high-end scoring chances. Later, on a second power play (on a penalty drawn by a Denver Barkey breakaway), the Flyers came up empty again. There was a lot to like on both power plays, and each of the opportunities really eased the Flyers into the offensive flow of the game, but you have to capitalize against the league-worst unit. So, it was a bit of a strange start to this game, but there were things to like from the Orange and Black.
Flyers allow the first goal, again
For the 25th time in 37 games, the Flyers let up the first goal of the game. As has been discussed over and over again throughout the first half of the season, the Flyers have been one of the most impressive come-from-behind teams in the NHL. However, at some point, the Flyers are going to need to start scoring first with more regularity, right? It’s great that the Flyers are resilient and all, but you’d think the Flyers are due for some regression in a negative direction in terms of wins.
That regression may have started tonight, where the Flyers just truly never got their bearings on this game. Falling behind 1-0 in the second period on a pretty unstoppable Jordan Eberle goal, the Kraken never really looked back, and Grubauer really just shut the door.
1-0 #SeaKraken
Excellent transition from Eberle and Beniers before their line combines a laterall pass below the goal line to Kakko and then a slot pass to Eberle. Really pretty play pic.twitter.com/sUjaiXUS0U
— Alison (@AlisonL) December 29, 2025
Flyers get goalie’d, sort of
On top of the Flyers never truly getting into the flow of the game, Phillip Grubauer was at his highest level, making high-quality saves when the Kraken needed it. So, why did it just feel like nothing happened offensively at all in this game? The Flyers just felt like a lifeless team tonight, and it didn’t seem at all like they made Grubauer’s life very difficult whatsoever.
According to Micah Blake McCurdy’s model, the Flyers actually won the expected goals battle with 3.1 expected goals to the Kraken’s 1.2. The Flyers also had 10 high danger chances to the Kraken’s 1, and carried a 57.3 Corsi-for percentage in the game, according to Natural Stat Trick. And, by the shot counter, the Flyers had 32 shots on goal to the Kraken’s 20. So, by all accounts, the Flyers actually dictated quite a bit in this game, and had a strong underlying process that should have resulted in a win on most nights. Maybe the real story of tonight is that the Flyers ran into a goalie on a hot streak, but it’s hard to leave that game thinking the Flyers played as well as the underlying stats imply.
Power play struggles
Outside of Grubauer, if you’re looking for the difference in this game, the Flyers’ inept power play is No. 1 on the list. With three opportunities in the first two periods against an absolutely horrendous penalty killing unit, you just have to come up with a goal or two in that situation. As mentioned previously, the Flyers created plenty of chances on those power plays, but it ultimately doesn’t matter when you can’t cash in against a penalty kill operating at a 70 percent clip. The Flyers’ power play, currently ranked 24th in the league, continues to show little signs of improvement as we enter the new year. When you combine that with the Flyers often playing from behind and their middling underlying numbers on the whole, it’s hard not to think that regression is on its way, but we’ll see how they respond for the rest of this road trip.
A late Grundstrom goal!
Hey! Carl Grundstrom scored again! For the third straight game, Grundstrom and the fourth line were productive. Tonight, the Grundstrom goal came in garbage time with the Flyers trailing 3-0, but his goal prevented the Flyers from being shutout for the second time this season. It also was another showcase of Grundstrom’s shot, which has proven itself to be a pretty useful attribute so far in his tenure with the Flyers.
Carl Grundstrom extends his goal streak to three games. #PHIvsSEA | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/NVJeYHSbQp
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 29, 2025