The Philadelphia Flyers have an uncanny ability to make every single game a roller coaster ride. That remained true Saturday afternoon in their matinee tilt against the Ottawa Senators at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
After a rough start, the Flyers battled back to force overtime, but ultimately fell to the Senators by a score of 3-2 in OT.
The Basics
First period: 5:14 — Tim Stützle (David Perron, Ridly Greig), 6:19 — Michael Amadio (Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto)
Second period: 11:23 — Matvei Michkov (Christian Dvorak, Travis Konecny)
Third period: 9:55 — Jamie Drysdale (Dvorak, Trevor Zegras)
Overtime: 3:19 — Stützle (Drake Batherson, Thomas Chabot)
SOG: 22 (PHI), 13 (OTT)
Takeaways
Another slow start
Aside from their furious three-goal first period against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, the Flyers have struggled mightily to start games off hot. They were outplayed in the first period Thursday night against the Nashville Predators, falling into an early 1-0 hole, and that trend continued Saturday against Ottawa.
The Flyers were held to just four shots in the first period and allowed a pair of Ottawa goals, separated by just 1:05, to end the frame trailing by two. It took until the final minute of the period for the Flyers to finally generate a high-danger scoring chance, when Bobby Brink forced a turnover at center ice and fed Owen Tippett for a laser that Ottawa netminder Linus Ullmark turned aside with his glove.
Perhaps it was the 1 p.m. start time that had the Flyers looking sluggish, but overall, the inauspicious starts have become standard for this club, which isn’t exactly conducive to winning hockey games.
Two in two for Michkov
Matvei Michkov’s slow start has been one of the top headlines in the season’s early going. After logging 26 goals as a rookie last season, he managed just one goal in the Flyers’ first 13 games of the 2025-26 campaign.
It appears the tides may be turning, though. Michkov lit the lamp Thursday night against Nashville, and against the Senators, he found the back of the net again with an outstanding individual effort to fend off Ottawa defenseman Jake Sanderson and find some open ice in the slot.
It’s clear Michkov hasn’t been playing his best hockey, but at the very least, goals in back-to-back games is an encouraging sign for the prized 20-year-old winger. He was noticeably more dynamic Saturday afternoon, and even though his play-driving numbers weren’t spectacular, he’s beginning to look more like the player who regularly wowed the Flyers fan base a year ago.
Drysdale comes up clutch
Jamie Drysdale is unquestionably one of the success stories of the season thus far. His play improved in the second half of the 2024-25 season, and the upward trajectory seems to be continuing into the new season.
Granted, he was far from perfect against the Senators. He was on the ice for both Ottawa goals in the first period, but he also contributed to both of the Flyers’ goals — he even took matters into his own hands and potted one of his own to tie the game midway through the third frame.
Once again, Drysdale posted stellar 5-on-5 play-driving numbers, including a 69.70 Corsi For percentage and a 67.57 Expected Goals For percentage, and while his defensive play is still a work in progress, it’s hard not to be pleased with the strides he’s made to start the year.
Ersson decent in return
Sam Ersson spent exactly one week on injured reserve with a lower-body injury before being activated Thursday evening, and in his first game back, he looked … just fine. He allowed three goals on just 13 Ottawa shots on net, which, on paper, is horrendous. But after the rough 1:05 in the first period that had the Flyers trailing by two early, he settled in nicely. He also faced just one shot in the third period, which can make it difficult for goalies to remain focused without being involved in the flow of the game. Tim Stützle’s game-winning goal in overtime can’t really be pinned on Ersson — it was indecisiveness by Trevor Zegras in the neutral zone that led to Stützle tapping in the easy tally.
As has been the case for a good portion of Ersson’s career, his overall play was better than the numbers indicate. But at some point, the luck will need to even out for him.
The penalty kill is so, so good
A silver lining to this loss is the play of the Flyers’ penalty kill. They killed off both of the Senators’ power plays with ease, giving them fits on zone entries and rarely allowing dangerous shooting lanes. Since October 23, the Flyers have been shorthanded 27 times and have allowed a grand total of two(!) power-play goals — both of which came against the Canadiens Tuesday night.
As things currently stand, the Flyers’ PK ranks fifth in the entire NHL with a success rate of 88.2%. It may not be as exciting as the “power kill” from the John Tortorella era, but Rick Tocchet and assistant coach Todd Reirden have this unit firing on all cylinders.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.