Flyers Play Best Game of the Season, Still Lose in Ottawa to Stay Winless

The Flyers played their best game of the season, but it still wasn’t enough, with the Ottawa Senators holding the last-minute barrage to keep the Flyers winless in their first five games, losing 2-1 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

The scoring started with a Nick Cousins tip-in, giving the Sens a 1-0 advantage. In the second period, Matvei Michkov tied it in the second with the first power-play goal of the season for the Flyers. The Senators got the game-winning goal in the third period when Carter Yakemchuk snuck a slapshot past Joseph Woll to take the 2-1 lead for the win.

Power Play Finally Comes Through

In the second period, the Flyers finally pushed through on the power play. Michkov got a goal right before the whistle and got solid play than in the first four games for the power play for the Flyers. They were certainly crisper in terms of passing and also in the spacing that they used with the man advantage. Not just the Michkov goal, but in the shifts where they didn’t score, they moved the puck much better.

The Flyers were definitely better with the man advantage, and what was positive was the way the Flyers moved without the puck, and they definitely played with better effort and speed than they had in the previous games. This was the most encouraging game of the season for the power play, and it shows that the Flyers can score on the power play.

Bunting Pays Immediate Dividends

Michael Bunting may not have scored, but he did what he is best at: he got in front of the goalie, and he just got under the skin of the Senators. This is something that was missing for the Flyers in previous games, and the team definitely responded. He did take a penalty that may not have been the best, but this is his first game without any training camp. He did play just short of 11 minutes in the game, and you got the sense that he was starting to tail off late in the game, but he definitely made his presence felt.

While this didn’t result in a win, Bunting did make the plays that he needed to, and his energy and grit were something that the Flyers have needed. It’s no accident that the Flyers played the best game of the season so far with Bunting on the ice, doing the little things that he is known for. This may be the jolt that the Flyers needed heading into Boston for a Saturday matinee.

Flyers Play the Best Game of the Season in Loss

This game didn’t end with a win, but the Flyers played their best game of the season, and it all started with the desperation they played with from the second period on. This is the first time this season the Flyers outshot their opponent, with them outshooting Ottawa 29-26. You can look directly at the forecheck, which gave them the shooting chances they had. In the final minute, the Flyers had a flurry where they got a few clean looks at the goal, but Linus Ullmark held strong. This effort hasn’t been there all season, but Ullmark held strong, keeping the Flyers winless.

This was the good, but the bad was that they took too many penalties, particularly in the first period, where they had four penalties that were all killed off, but they can’t keep putting that pressure on the penalty kill and goalies hoping to win. This is something that they can work on heading into Boston. With that said, a loss is still a loss, but there are many things to build on moving forward. The energy and passing were definitely better, but this ends in the fifth straight loss to start the season.

They will have to take the next step and limit the questionable penalties and go for the win in Boston on Saturday at noon.

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