On the first night where the Flyers wore No. 1 in honor of the late Bernie Parent, Noah Cates scored his first of the season to tie things up 1-1 late in the second. But Florida’s Brad Marchand added one more in the third for a 2-1 Panthers win. The win snapped Philadelphia’s 10-season point streak across its last 10 season openers (good for an 8-0-2 record).
The basics
First period: No scoring
Second period: 5:29 – Anton Lundell (Evan Rodrigues, Jeff Petry) (PPG), 17:48 – Noah Cates (Tyson Foerster)
Third period: 2:19 – Brad Marchand (Luke Kunin, A.J. Greer)
SOG: 20 (PHI) – 34 (FLA)
Some takeaways
Zegras’ decent debut
Center Trevor Zegras didn’t amaze on a line with Travis Konecny and Owen Tippet. Zegras was nailed for an interference penalty in the second on a shift that saw the trio doing everything but finding chemistry. Philadelphia killed nearly all of it but Anton Lundell got a low wrister on Dan Vladar’s stick side to open the scoring. A bad line change on the play courtesy of Konecny didn’t help much.
A closer look at Anton Lundell’s 1st goal of the season.#TimeToHunt #NHL #FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/5dlwlmUN9s
— Panthers Historian (@FlaCatsHistory) October 10, 2025
The trio found some mojo the longer the game went on, with some nice passing by the trio after Tippett showed a flash of his speed. In the third the trio had a golden chance racing down the ice with Konecny unable to finish down near the net. Like all of the four lines, Zegras’ line rarely had any sustained pressure. Through 40 minutes Zegras was still looking for his first shot, had two giveaways and was 40 per cent on the faceoff dot. By comparison the other centers were solid as Philadelphia won 63 per cent of the faceoffs through two periods.
Vladar valiant
Dan Vladar got the nod in the opener and was busy early and often, stopping the baker’s dozen worth of shots he faced in the opening twenty. A four-on-four had Florida with a few strong chances in close that Vladar was steady and ready for. He kept Philadelphia tied after a few miscues, including a hiccup by Garnet Hathaway. The Panthers continued their brand of accidental on purpose run-ins with goaltenders as Sam Reinhart looked like he ran into Vladar. The keep wasn’t hurt and no interference penalty was called. In one of the more moronic moments you’ll see, Vladar’s mask was knocked off thanks to a shot in the cage late in the first, but play continued, with a shot taken on a maskless keeper.
The blueline did do a fairly credible job of enabling Vladar to see the pucks without much traffic. It looked to be a far cry from last year where blocking a shot with your Adam’s apple was considered sporting a badge of honor. Philadelphia had all of three blocks in the first.
JZ have 99 problems
The third pairing of Noah Juulsen and Egor Zamula weren’t on the ice for a lot, but they were noticeable for a lot of bad decisions. It wasn’t just those two (who were down 0-2 and 0-1 in chances for in the first). Adam Ginning (who was turned inside out by Brad Marchand in the second) also had a zero percentage in chances (down 0-6) in period one. Given how badly the three looked, it wasn’t a shock to see Travis Sanheim with an eye-bulging 10:17 of ice time over twenty minutes. Juulsen and Zamula nearly collided into each other early in the third skating backwards, though once again Vladar saved the day. The pair were on the ice for Florida’s go-ahead goal by Brad Marchand. Nobody cleared the lanes and A.J. Greer was screening the Flyers goalie.
The Flyers aren’t drowning in defensive depth that’s decent, so missing Cam York hurts. It was evident as Florida had 19 shots 28 minutes into the contest compared to the nine Philadelphia scrounged up. Also apparent was Nick Seeler being the second best blueliner for Philadelphia on this night. Meanwhile, Ginning had another horrid giveaway to Sam Reinhart. Here Vladar had some puck luck as the shot hit the post. Vladar also shoveled the puck to Zamula who missed it, leading to a prime scoring chance the keeper against stopped.
Michkov and Couturier
Unlike the starting lines for the last few exhibition games, Tocchet opened with the trio of Sean Couturier, Christian Dvorak and Matvei Michkov. The shift ended with a minor to Michkov in the Flyers zone. It was a short-lived power play thanks to a slashing minor by Evan Rodrigues. Considering the gong show the Panthers participated in last weekend, it was probably a prudent idea to call everything early. The line’s best chance early was a two-on-one. Couturier couldn’t get the puck across to Michkov for a chance on Sergei Bobrovsky.
Most would’ve liked to see Zegras with Michkov together right off the bat. Particularly as the third period began winding down and the Panthers ahead by one. Michkov wasn’t flustered by it, looking fine on some shifts. However, every Flyer was rarely finding much time and space against the deep Panthers. A team who looks very strong despite missing Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.
Power play basically one and done
The first power play was all of a handful of seconds. The second one was a bit more fruitful with Michkov, Zegras, Konecny, Tippett and Drysdale trying to set something up. The unit didn’t do a lot, stuck in their zone before going offside. The second unit featured the Cates line alongside Couturier and Travis Sanheim and mirrored the first unit in its ineffectiveness. The Flyers never got another opportunity the rest of the way.
Line three
Cates, Brink and Foerster had the best chance for Philadelphia midway in the second when Bobby Brink passed the puck to Cates who beat Bobrovsky but not the iron. Brink was slowed down by Dmitry Kulikov who appeared to hurt his wrist and left the game. Late in the second the line scored the Flyers first of the game (and season). A Foerster shot gave Bobrovsky fits with the rebound. Cates got his stick on it and the puck arched over the goalie to tie things 1-1.
Noah Cates gets the first Flyers goal of the year and ties the game!!! pic.twitter.com/HPohjIhrBZ
— Talkin’ Philly (@TalkinPhilly_) October 10, 2025
It was a great sign to see the line pick up where they left off last year, hitting the ground running and ready to play every shift. The only miscue was with the goaltender pulled Foerster was called for interference on Marchand which effectively killed any chance to tie things up.
Statistics via Natural Stat Trick.