On the second game of a two game set with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers were again throttled by the Lightning, losing 5-1 on Monday night. The Lightning won their tenth in a row and outscored the Flyers 12-3 in the last two games, while the Flyers lost their third in a row in the middle of a tough stretch in the schedule.
The Basics
First period: 1:10 – Pontus Holmberg (Zemgus Girgensons, Yanni Gourde)
Second period: 0:33 – Jake Guentzel (Erik Cernak, Brandon Hagel), 4:27 – Brayden Point (Oliver Bjorkstrand, Guentzel) (PPG), 5:38 – Christian Dvorak, 19:29 – Hagel (Darren Raddysh, Nikita Kucherov)
Third period: 16:37 – Kucherov (Raddysh, Anthony Cirelli) (ENG)
SOG: 26 (TBL) – 21 (PHI)
Some Takeaways
Bad start
After the blowout loss two nights ago, the Flyers desperately needed to come out strong against Tampa tonight. And, well, that certainly did not happen. Just over a minute into the game, Pontus Holmberg found a puck in front of the net, and squeezed one past Vladar short side. It was a strange play where the Flyers just couldn’t find a loose puck, and a really tough start to the game.
Here is Pontus Holmberg playing possum: https://t.co/kitndnFrPW pic.twitter.com/Dqk4k79cAw
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) January 13, 2026
The rest of the first period was a bit of a mixed bag for the Flyers. They lulled the Lightning into pretty low-event hockey, with the shot counter being only 6-5 Tampa after the opening frame. In addition, the Flyers missed on quite a few of their shot attempts as well, including a Sean Couturier post towards the end of the period.
To make matters worse, the start to the second period was no better. Just 33 seconds in, a point shot deflected off Guentzel in front and in. Then, just four minutes later, a power play goal from Brayden Point effectively put the game away for the Lightning. Even with the Flyers propensity for coming back this season, it just felt like they were never in this game at all and had no chance to come back. Truly, they’ve just been completely outclassed by the Lightning these last two games, and it’s a real gut check on where this team currently stands.
Dvorak scores
With the Flyers down 3-0 in the second period, Christian Dvorak made a nice play to give the Flyers some hope in this one. On a 4-on-4, Dvorak retrieved the puck in the defensive zone and skated through all three zones on an odd man rush. Looking off Nick Seeler, Dvorak perfectly placed his shot top corner, giving him his 10th of the year. A real nice play for the Flyers newly-extended center.
CHRISTIAN DVORAK SNIPES IT HOME AFTER A HUGE VLADAR SAVE (POTENTIALLY A VLADAR ASSIST)#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/hrqRJYwnc7
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) January 13, 2026
A tale of two special teams
It’s becoming a nightly theme, but you can really see how awful the Flyers power play is when you also get to watch the Tampa power play in action. The difference in the two units is so staggeringly large. Tonight, Tampa’s power play went 2 for 4 while the Flyers went 0 for 2. There’s just so much movement and crisp passing on the Lightning power play, while the Flyers are just disjointed and a mess. Nothing we haven’t said before about the inept Flyers power play, but it’s just so obvious on a night like tonight. If they had a semi-functioning unit, perhaps this game against one of the best teams in the East would be a bit closer.
Two fights at once!
In what was a very choppy and undisciplined third period, the Flyers and the Lightning traded penalties and had lots of offsetting calls. The refs just did not have control of this game, from Travis Konecny being thrown out of the game with 9 minutes to go, to the two fights happening at once. Rodrigo Abols and Nikita Grebenkin both tried to manufacture energy for the Flyers in the third period, each fighting a Lightning player at the same time.
Really, the Grebenkin fight stole the show. Against Max Crozier, the two traded punches for a while before Grebenkin eventually took Crozier down. We’re seeing Grebenkin evolve into quite the fourth-liner, one who can both flash offense and bring the physical element that coaches love. He’s been pretty consistent on a shift-to-shift basis lately, and hopefully we start to see the fighting and physical side of Grebenkin flourish even more.
ABOLS CRUSHES A LIGHTNING PLAYER AND WE HAVE 2 FIGHTS AT ONCE!! ABOLS VS PAUL AND GREBENKIN VS CROZIER. GREBENKIN PUMPS UP THE CROWD. 🥊#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/9X2LBG4zL5
— Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) January 13, 2026
Vladar spends third period flexing his leg
After making a sprawling save midway through the third, Dan Vladar had some clear discomfort for the next few minutes in the game. He was repeatedly shown flexing his leg, moving it a bit in the crease, and testing it out to see if something was wrong. We’ll find out later if something is actually bothering him, but he did finish the game for the Orange and Black.
Obviously, a Vladar injury would spell disaster for the Flyers. Without Vladar, the Flyers goaltending would be in shambles, having to rely on the shaky Sam Ersson for the majority of starts and whoever is up next in Lehigh Valley. The Flyers would probably have a Ersson-Kolosov tandem for a Round 2 repeat of last season, and we all know how that went. Kolosov has been much better with the Phantoms this year, but it could get really ugly.
Considering how condensed the schedule is, even a minor injury to Vladar could severely dampen the Flyers playoff chances. They are already trending in the negative direction following three straight losses, and with a really tough schedule coming up, they can’t afford to lose Vladar. Something to monitor in the next few days.