The Flyers are off to a rough 0-2-2 start in the 2026-27 NHL season (2 points, last in the Metropolitan Division) after four games, with a -12 goal differential.
Unfortunately, the orange and black opened with a historic 7-0 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, then dropped 3-2 overtime decisions to the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes before falling 4-1 on the road to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night (October 5).
Key issues
- Offense and possession struggles: Just five goals scored across four games. They’ve been heavily outshot (reports cite totals around 158-76 overall) and have generated little sustained pressure. Power play sits at 0% after going 0-11.
- Lack of urgency/cohesion: Flyers’ Head Coach Rick Tocchet and media notes have pointed to missing intensity, emotion, and structure. The team looked marginally better against Tampa but still couldn’t sustain it.
- This is their first 0-2-2 (or similar winless) start in over a decade (comparable to 2014-15 in some reports).
In the most recent game, Tyson Foerster scored (with help from a Porter Martone deflection/net-front presence for his first of the year in some accounts), and Dan Vladar made 32 saves, but Tampa pulled away late. The goal was originally credited to Martone.
Last season the Flyers took a big step forward (strong post-Olympics stretch, third in the Metro, and a first-round playoff series win over Pittsburgh before falling to Carolina). Expectations were higher heading into this year with young talent like Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone, Trevor Zegras, and others, plus Rick Tocchet behind the bench.
There have been some early injury/roster notes (e.g., Denver Barkey activated after missing time, Nikita Grebenkin on IR, Rasmus Ristolainen dealing with an issue).Next up: Thursday at the Ottawa Senators, then a road game in Boston, before returning home.It’s early, but the slow start has drawn scrutiny given the raised expectations after last year’s progress.
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