October 16, 2026
At a certain point, it's just comical.
Owen Tippett lost the puck before he even made a move, which sprung the Detroit Red Wings down the other way for a game-tying goal.
Tyson Foerster went to the box for tripping a guy who didn't even have a stick.
And then, late in the third period, a row of bottom-of-the-lineup checkers, who should be able to handle safe and hard-skating minutes, instead got outhustled on a dump-in and overwhelmed on the ensuing wraparound to the front of the net that led to Andrew Copp jamming in the go-ahead goal.
The Flyers lost again, 2-1, in Detroit Thursday night.
That's nine straight losses to begin the season now at 0-6-3 – a new franchise-worst, as it will continue to be with each passing defeat.
They got outshot, again, 26-18. They were blanked on the power play, again, going 0-for-2. And when they took the opening lead from Matvei Michkov batting in a wild bounce from a Travis Sanheim shot up high, they didn't do much to try and pile on, even though they absolutely needed to have their foot on the gas.
Really, if it hadn't been for Joseph Woll in their own net, again, they would've given Thursday night away much faster than they eventually did.
Maybe it's just laughing through the pain.
"I think there were moments of good, moments of not so good, and I think that it's kinda been the same story," Jamie Drysdale said afterward.
Rinse and repeat.
"I think when we play how we should play, we play good hockey," the defenseman continued. "And if you don't do that for 60 minutes, the outcome's not gonna change."
Thing is, they can barely cobble together 10 solid minutes with the way they've been playing. A full 60 might as well be a climb to the top of Everest at this rate. It feels like forever away.
Tyson Foerster tripped a man who wasn't holding a stick. pic.twitter.com/LubRX7WAZI
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) October 16, 2026
Since the season began two weeks ago, the Flyers have spent most of their time hemmed down in their own end. They've been largely careless with the puck, and the play-finishing ability for guys like Foerster and Tippett, easily the two sharpest shots on the team, has inexplicably vanished.
For every moment of good there's been, like Michkov crashing in on the net and scoring, or in the case of Tuesday night against Seattle, a sudden third-period surge that gave the Flyers a legitimate chance to finally win, there's been two or three more instances of bad to match, like so many blind passes from behind their own net getting picked off at the blue line or long stretches where they never register a shot.
The team, under head coach Rick Tocchet, never really shot much to begin with, as was the case for much of last year and even during the post-Olympic break surge into the playoffs. The difference was they were defensively committed and a lot more careful with the puck, with part of it being a recognition of a lack in high-end offensive skill at the time and knowing that it's a first-year coach implementing a new system with a relatively young roster – an excellent year from Dan Vladar to lean on also helped a lot.
But the commitment isn't there now, or doesn't look as strong as it did or needs to be to have an effect, and the Flyers haven't been anywhere near as offensively threatening as they need to be in order to compensate for it.
Foerster's and Tippett's aforementioned struggles contribute to that, so do Porter Martone's and Denver Barkey's rocky starts to their Year 2s, and that Trevor Zegras, while a lot more noticeable this week, hasn't been as impactful as expected since signing his contract extension this past summer.
If any forward is producing, it's Michkov, who has a lot to prove this season and, so far, has a team-leading three goals.
But here's the other thing: Michkov's ice time Thursday night was just 13:40.
When the game was tied late, and the Flyers needed to get up ice to score – for a goal they absolutely needed at that point – he wasn't out there. Noel Acciari and Jack Studnicka, who has 128 NHL games over nine years, were.
Then Copp scored the winner for Detroit after they got torched.
A few minutes before, Michkov had a clear lane and put a straight shot on that generated a rebound for a good chance while on the power play. Michael Bunting, who hasn't been considered a goal scorer in years, was the man in front. He couldn't get it.
"We're lacking the big moments," Tocchet said postgame. "We gotta find them somehow. We gotta keep coming in every day and try to find them."
But it's like they're not even helping themselves now.
"I don't have a good answer for you, to be honest with you," Drysdale said with a long pause. "Yeah, it just has to be [better]. I think the [first] win we get is gonna have to be greasy. It's not gonna go from zero to 100, and it's just gonna have to be work, it's gonna have to be working together, and we just got to attack, and not think anything else."
But it's two weeks and nine games into the season now. The bus is still parked. It's past late.
And maybe you just have to laugh through the pain now if you're still watching.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
