Flyers Close Out 2025 With a Total No Show in Calgary
Dec 30, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York (8), forward Garnet Hathaway (19), forward Carl Grundstrom (91) and forward Nikita Grebenkin (29) celebrate Grundstrom’s goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Flyers closed out the year with maybe their most uninspiring game of the year, where they got bullied by the Calgary Flames all game.
New Year’s Eve games have been the specialty of the Flames lately. They’ve won 7 of their last 8 December 31st matchups.
Since the Flyers were coming out on the tail end of a back-to-back, the expectation was that they would come out a little gassed, but that wasn’t the case. They played hard against Calgary in their zone for much of the first period. That is, until Matthew Coronato penetrated the Flyers’ zone, dropped a pass back to a trailing Mikael Backlund, who had an open shot at Samuel Ersson, and his slap shot found the back of the net to take the early lead.
We’ve seen this before, the Flyers down one going into the second. But tonight the Flames took absolute control of the second period.
It started with Flyers killer Jonathan Huberdeau taking a slap shot, which appeared to deflect off of Jamie Drysdale and go past Ersson for the second goal. There was a Flyers goal that was called a no-goal after a challenge by Flames coach Ryan Huska. There was a little payback from the Flyers when Travis Konecny shot, which went behind Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, and in an attempt to freeze the puck, it went across for a rare own goal.
This would be the last thing to cheer about in the second period, however. The Flyers’ penalty kill unit let up a 2 short handed goals, which, going into the second intermission, felt like it was an insurmountable gap.
The third period was filled with uninspired play by the Flyers. They gave up a goal in the third by Connor Zary, which all but sealed the victory for the Flames. The rest of the game was played at a pace where the ending seemed a forgone conclusion, and it mercifully ended in a 5-1 Flames win.
Flames Controlled the Neutral Zone En Route to a Win
In this game, the Flames’ strategy was obvious, and it paid off tonight. They wanted to control the neutral zone, and at the tail of the first period, they started to repel the Flyers forecheck and the puck seemed to bounce out of the Flyers zone within 30 seconds of entry, and part was due in part to the Flyers bad passing in the zone, but also that the Flames pushed them into unforced errors and that made for the puck exit the offensive zone with impunity. This led to every offensive zone chance for the Flyers getting snuffed out before it even started.
The Flames trapped the Flyers into making unwise choices with the puck, especially on the two power-play goals scored in the second period. Both were bad passes in the neutral zone, which were both turned around and went past Ersson. Both shots could have been saved, but the quality shots that Calgary put up were clean looks. Tonight’s game was a bit of foreign territory for the Flyers this season, a game that felt very disorganized and disconnected.
Ersson Puts Up Another Clunker
It’s hard to put this loss on the feet of the goaltender. He did miss the two goals in the second on the 2 power play goals for the Flames. Both goals were on obvious defensive breakdowns, but to be completely honest, those two shots and the 5th goal in the third were ones that should have been saved. The game didn’t hinge on the goalie play, but this is becoming a pattern for the Flyers and something that needs to be addressed.
Ersson has been less than stellar in big games this season. Last season, Ersson felt like he was in control for every game; even when he lost games, it rarely felt like he was the reason the Flyers took a loss in the games. This season, he looks very tentative in his games and has looked a beat off all season. The one thing he has done this year is improve the quick lateral movement, but in doing this, it feels like he is perhaps moving a little too much and not getting too comfortable in the middle of the crease. The shots he allowed through tonight were direct shots at him. This will be something to watch out for going forward.
The Flyers’ Offense Has a Rare Low Energy Game
Typically, this season, the Flyers seem to ratchet up the pressure on the offensive side of the puck when they go down a goal early. Tonight, they just seemed to be missing that gear that they hit when they are playing from behind this season. This was in large part due to the play of the Flames and how well they controlled the neutral zone. Normally, this season, the Flyers control the neutral zone, which is the key to their pace and how they set traps for other teams, but tonight, Calgary beat them at their own game. When they realized that they couldn’t control the neutral zone, they played back more.
The Flyers can’t win if they’re retreating and not counterattacking. The Flames did a great job neutralizing the Flyers’ forecheck, but this loss was directly on the Flyers and their lack of offensive cohesion. Specifically in the second period, where they couldn’t materialize any sustained pressure on Wolf. The difference between the body language of the Flyers leaving for the locker room in the first intermission was confident and didn’t appear worried, and why would they be? They play best when down a goal. But the body language of the Flyers going into the locker room in the second intermission was a stark difference. They looked like Calgary put up double-digit goals in the period. They looked defeated and came out to play the third with that same lack of intensity.
This was the Flames’ 4th straight win over the Flyers, and this was as resounding as they get. The game may have ended 5-1, but it felt more like 10-1 with the lack of intensity on the Flyers’ bench. They are 3-7-0 in the last 10 against Calgary. They have one more game on this road trip, a gut-check game in Edmonton, facing a really good hockey team in the Edmonton Oilers. Tocchet and the leadership on the team have to soul-search and try to come to a conclusion as to where the energy and cohesion went tonight and fix it before the team starts playing tougher opponents in the next few weeks.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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