October 13, 2026
Kyle Ross/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Flyers' whole season has already been flipped upside down.
The Flyers were right there, on the cusp of that first win in the most Philadelphia Flyers way possible: in the shootout.
But they couldn't get that last goal, and Dan Vladar couldn't make that last stop.
The visiting Seattle Kraken beat them in a 3-2 final at Xfinity Mobile Arena, and they're still winless to franchise-worst degree at 0-5-3.
There was no salvation. Not Tuesday night, and maybe now it's too late.
Through two periods, and then some, the Flyers looked like they had reached a point of no return.
All of the problems that had plagued them through the first two weeks of the season, and sent them spiraling into a franchise-worst start, had continued on.
Through two periods, they were a disconnected, rudderless, and seemingly dejected mess full of reckless passes, oblivious defense, and punchless shots that were sending them quickly toward an eighth consecutive loss.
And through two periods, a sparse crowd that didn't have much else to do other than sit in apathetic silence with an echoing boo or two, continued to wonder and hunt for any last source of blame for what could've happened to a team that it was proudly applauding off the ice not even six months ago, but has since looked like one of the worst teams in the NHL.
Through two periods, it was only getting worse. The Flyers were down and couldn't find a way to fight back.
But then, pressing into the third, rookie Oliver Bonk, Tyson Foerster, and Christian Dvorak connected, finally, on easily the Flyers' best scoring rush of the season (there haven't been many), and Trevor Zegras immediately followed up with an open look and a laser of a shot past Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer for the tie, while Vladar went on a run of making every save imaginable down the other way.
In one of the very few spots so far this season, the Flyers had some legitimate life...just to let it go...
The Flyers finally caught a spark in the third period, but it couldn't equate to that first win.
For fans, watching it has been aggravating, and may be bordering on a shift back into apathy-inducing, which is a brutal spot that the organization has put so much work into climbing out of after a continuous decade of mostly mediocre hockey.
But after two continuous and miserable weeks of outright listless hockey from this group, save for one anomaly of a solid effort against Ottawa (still a 2-1 regulation loss) and whatever adrenaline rush they captured on Tuesday, what reason was there to expect anything different – other than maybe hoping for a miracle?
But they had one right in front of them, and let it go.
If there are any more out there now, that one more loss might've made it too late anyway.
It has taken too long for the Flyers to wake up.
Amid Philadelphia passes to nowhere in particular, which sprung a Kraken team that isn't exactly an offensive force into open looks, Bobby McMann caught a bounce at his feet that hopped over every Flyer in front of the net to launch Seattle's opening goal right by Vladar on a first-period power play – already, it felt like the Flyers had the wind taken out of them.
Midway through the second, Ville Ottavainen was left to step up into the open, firing a shot across his body and through traffic to make it 2-0, Kraken – with the mix of dejected quiet and scattered boos selling that there might not be any coming back from this.
The fans did find their spots to try and inject some life into their team, maybe trying to cling on to anything, when Vladar stopped a Jordan Eberle penalty shot, and when Zegras ignited jawing and then shoving with Grubauer through the rest of the second. But like every other chance these Flyers have had to turn the tide up to that point, they couldn't get it together and make something happen.
That is, until they tapped into that third-period surge. Of course, it was fleeting, and still with plenty of other miscues that could've buried them well before the shootout had it not been for Vladar's efforts in the crease.
It's hard to see where the Flyers go from here for the rest of the season, well, maybe except for further down – or up to the middle of the pack at best.
Porter Martone and the Flyers have struggled to skate their way into clear shooting lanes.
Porter Martone, Denver Barkey, and Matvei Michkov, who are each key components of the young homegrown core put in place, have been struggling to make any kind of impact – though Michkov did have a slick goal off of a nasty move in the shootout.
Foerster and Owen Tippett, who easily have the sharpest shots on the team, can't find their way into open lanes to let the puck rip, and on the chance they do, they miss.
Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, as vital as they made themselves last season, have gone backwards so far in this one, notably after both just signed hefty contract extensions. Zegras caught fire during the second period and then had his tying goal in the third, and should get credit for it, but then Drysdale left them shorthanded in overtime, when he took too long to get to the bench to bring on an ill-timed too many men on the ice penalty. Overall, a lot more has been needed out of them as main faces of the team.
And as for Rick Tocchet, well, there are already fans calling for his job, and the longer this spiral goes, and the more the Flyers skate sluggishly through a system that's yielding little effect, the more intense that ire and demand for change is going to get.
It's inevitable, maybe along with the fate of the season now.
And maybe the thing that saves the Flyers now is a long-term win in the Landon DuPont draft sweepstakes this summer.
Maybe then the Flyers will finally have that elite, and true, star talent they thought they already had elsewhere, or were searching for, or were maybe even hoping that they would never need to hit rock bottom for.
But this, right now, feels like it's getting close to it.
"It's something to build on," Tocchet said afterward of the effort. "I know it's the moral victory thing, but it is. It's something to build on."
Cool. The season started Sept. 30. The win column, for a team that had better expectations, still shows zero.
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