Flyer Postgame Recap 10/3/26

The Flyers drop their 3rd straight game to start the season, with the last two both coming in overtime with a score of 3-2.

Philly could not take advantage of the Canes' backup, Pyotr Kotchetcov, who mightily struggled in the postseason and when he played last season. They also only had 18 shots tonight, as they could not get a lot of good shot opportunities. The Flyers trailed very early on, as Carolina got a goal from Sebastian Aho 10 seconds into the game. 8 minutes later, the Flyers responded with Owen Tippett’s first goal of the season.

The shot totals at the end of the first were 13 for the Canes and a lackluster 6 for Philadelphia.

Going into the second tied, the Flyers would look to pounce first and take the lead, and after a back-and-forth start to the period, Matvei Michkov got a beautiful cross-ice pass from Travis Konecny and buried it to give Philly the 2-1 lead. Joseph Woll would hold it down in net in the 2nd, as he made 17 saves in that period alone, which gave him 29 stops on 30 shots going into the 2nd intermission.

Carolina would strike 4:51 into the 3rd on Aho’s second goal of the night, and Woll would make 8 total saves out of 9 shots faced in that period to send the game to overtime. Former Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere would score the game-winner with 2:09 to go in overtime, giving Carolina the 3-2 road victory.

The main reason the Flyers lost today was that they did not have nearly enough offensive chances. Looking at the shots per period, they had 6 in each of the first two, and 5 in the third, along with 1 in OT. That is not going to win them games, and that has been a pattern for this team to start the year. 5 goals total in 3 games is not enough.

Their goal differential currently sits at -9, not what you want to see early on from a team that made the playoffs. On the bright side, Woll had another fantastic showing, and they have earned 2 points with back-to-back OT losses, so it is a slight improvement compared to the 7-0 thrashing they took from Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

The Flyers will hit the road to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, still in search of win number 1.

Photo Credits: Walt Ruff on X/Getty Images