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Takeaways: Ersson, Brink deserved better outcome in 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina

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The Flyers’ duo of Sam Ersson and Bobby Brink were great throughout Saturday night’s game, and even thought they had won it. A disallowed goal in overtime, though, gave Carolina life, resulting in a 4-3 win for the ‘Canes.

The basics

First period: 19:38 – Owen Tippett (Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras) (PPG)
Second period: 3:46 – Logan Stankoven (Jackson Blake, Alexander Nikishin), 6:18 – Bobby Brink (Noah Cates, Nikita Grebenkin), 9:07 – Taylor Hall (Eric Robinson), 18:30 – Jordan Staal (Jordan Martinook)
Third period: 16:00 – Travis Sanheim (Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster)
Overtime: 4:43 – Seth Jarvis (Sebastian Aho, Shayne Gostisbehere)
SOG: 23 (PHI) – 40 (CAR)

Some takeaways

Luchanko & Grebenkin

The season debut for Jett Luchanko had him on the fourth line with Garnet Hathaway and Nikita Grebenkin. Luchanko showed flashes of his speed but also took a page from Hathaway, going into corners and causing a little more havoc then he might be used to. The best the line had to offer was in the second period when the trio kept Carolina on their heels, cycling and generating a few scoring chances. A lovely mix of wrecking ball and speed which could develop into something, and give opponents a lot of problems.

God love Nikita Grebenkin! After ending his first shift of the season he went straight to the Flyers bench. But it was the defensemen’s end of the bench. A trainer told him to go to the other end, which he did, quickly realizing his faux pas. The forward got his first point as a Flyer (and as an NHLer) in the second on a secondary assist late in his shift, though he was on the bench when Brink found the twine.

Neither player looked like they were in over their heads. Luchanko would’ve liked to have an errant pass back in the second which led to Carolina’s second goal. Considering the competition, they were all that and more. Good first game of the season for both.

Bobby McBrink = the new era in firewagon hockey?

The steady trio of Bobby Brink, Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster went into run-and-gun mode early in the second and it cost them. Brink had a full head of steam but couldn’t finish. Carolina quickly returned the favor and Logan Stankoven buried a rebound with Cates a step behind.

Whatever they were told after the shift, they kept going. Brink fired a laser over Andersen, quickly returning the lead to Philadelphia 2-1.

More shifts saw more opportunities in the Canes zone with Brink looking possessed by Bobby Orr. And with four minutes remaining in regulation, Brink found Travis Sanheim who blew it by Frederik Andersen to tie the game 3-3.

McBrink, er, Brink thought he had the game-winner in overtime, but the goal was negated when officials determined Sanheim bumped into Andersen. Seconds later, Carolina beat Ersson with a rocket top shelf to take the two points. It wasn’t a crushing loss, but it was an effort from the goaltender and the smaller forward that was worthy of a Flyers win.

Save it again, Sam

Sam Ersson was going to get a lot of rubber thrown in his direction Saturday night. Carolina is about quantity more than quality in terms of shots. Combine that with the concept the Flyers will be blocking fewer shots than previous years and Ersson was going to get tested. After some utterly horrible shifts from Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov early (and for almost all of the first), Ersson bailed them out with a few nice stops but very little rebound control. During the Canes opening power play, Ersson stoned Jackson Blake in close before the rebound went wide of the post.

Ersson gave up a pair in period two, not having much of a chance on either. Thankfully, Ersson and Travis Sanheim avoided injuries when they nearly ran into each other on Carolina’s second goal. From start to finish Ersson held Philadelphia in it, making a trio of timely saves early in the third to keep the Flyers within a shot of tying things up.

After two games, maybe Tocchet deserves early consideration for the Jack Adams. He has made the Flyers’ goaltending look quite credible against two of the tougher teams in the East.

Discipline

Tocchet preached discipline after the Florida game and must have been muttering to himself after another undisciplined minor in the first. Konecny took a dumb interference penalty in the neutral zone. The Flyers killed it. Yet you don’t need to give a talented team like Carolina any more chances than needed. Egor Zamula didn’t get the memo either, sticking his leg out to knock over Blake for another tripping minor. A Noah Cates “slash” made it eight minor penalties in 77 minutes of regulation play so far in 2025-26. Has to stop.

Oddly enough, when it did stop, the Flyers found their game and got a rhythm going. Not to say there weren’t moments where Carolina gave them fits. But the penalty-free phases gave Philadelphia a far better chance of success.

Zegras finding his way

The line of Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak and Owen Tippett had the first great chance for Philadelphia. Zegras’ pass cross-ice was relayed back to Tippett but he was knocked down before he could cash in. Zegras seemed more comfortable from the onset in Carolina, and earned his first assist and point as a Flyer during a power play late in the first. Unlike game one, Zegras showed flashes of what he might be able to do to help. More practice time should make things go a bit smoother as October rolls into November.

Matvei miffed?

The foolish penalties early didn’t do a lot to help Matvei Michkov. Konecny and Couturier were killing penalties, which kept the Mad Russian on the bench for a while. The line’s first glimpse of promise came late in the first when Konecny’s shot was foiled by Andersen. But overall the line was getting clobbered (down 4-17 in five-on-five chances after two periods for a 19.05 percentage) Late in the first Michkov was briefly out with Zegras for the first time this season and hopefully not the last. They were also briefly together in the second before a line change was fully completed.

Michkov, held without a shot in the first 40, was on the ice for the Flyers first power play (and power play goal) which was a fluke. The Flyers took it regardless. Tippett was in the right place at the right time in the dying seconds of the first after a shot deflected off the stanchion and went right to him.

The line was on the ice for a back-breaking goal in the second, once again caving into Carolina’s constant pressure. It was not a great one for Michkov, but one suspects the line isn’t close to working on all cylinders. Of the four lines going for Philadelphia, this trio were completely out of sorts. The only saving grace might have been a hit Konecny received from William Carrier on the numbers into the boards. Michkov came to Konecny’s defense and looked like he was ready to drop the gloves. Instead, Michkov took a roughing minor.

Possibly the most head-scratching part for Michkov was overtime. He didn’t see any ice time as Tocchet went with the guys he felt were going for him. It’s only two games, but it’s probably not the start Michkov wanted for himself. He ended the game -1 with no points and zero shots on goal in 13:27. Meanwhile Couturier was on the ice for Carolina’s game-winner, ending what was a horrible night for the center.

Line juggling

It took a while, but with five minutes to go and down a goal, Tocchet opted to throw the lines around, putting Grebenkin on a line with Couturier while Michkov and Zegras saw some time together. The urgency was rewarded with Sanheim’s game-tying goal. At best, it’s an ace in his sleeve he can use in such situations. At worst, it might be line combinations that could work better than some of the ones are now.

Statistics via Natural Stat Trick

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