The Philadelphia Flyers received their season-opening meetup with former captain Claude Giroux and the Ottawa Senators, a 5-4 extra time thriller. It was a back-and-forth effort that the Flyers led 1-0, trailed 4-2, then finally prevailed in.

Philadelphia was outshot 37-19, however that didn’t cease them from popping out on high. Travis Sanheim opened the scoring with assists from Emil Andrae and Garnet Hathaway to make it 1-0, however that’s the place issues went the opposite means.

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Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk knotted the sport up, whereas Drake Batherson’s power-play one-timer made it a lead. Travis Konecny struck to tie the sport once more heading into the third interval, however Josh Norris’ dagger 4:27 into the ultimate body made the Flyers begin again at sq. one. Adam Gaudette’s power-play objective made it 4-2 and put the sport out of attain with lower than 10 minutes to go.

Effectively, that was till Anthony Richard’s marker to make it fascinating. Shortly after, Richard got here down the wing with a rebound-creating shot that went to Bobby Brink, who scored and tied it 4-4. The Flyers survived and compelled extra time.

Within the additional body, the Flyers spent a variety of time in their very own zone. After they lastly received out, rookie Matvei Michkov received on the ice and made his presence felt. Courtesy of a Konecny dish, he positioned an ideal shot previous Senators netminder Linus Ullmark from an unimaginable angle. That’s the primary game-winning objective of his profession.

With the recap apart, what have been some takeaways from the night time?

Fedotov Rising Extra Snug

For some time, the Flyers’ backup goaltending has been their Achilles’ heal. Good begins from their non-Samuel Ersson netminders have been uncommon, which tremendously attributed to the group’s collapse final season and their sluggish begin this go round, as effectively.

Ivan Fedotov, who signed a $3.275 million cap-hit contract to be the Flyers’ backup for the subsequent two seasons, was prone to shedding his job after three worrying begins in 2024-25. He didn’t appear to be an NHL goalie, so the Flyers went into motion by calling up 22-year-old Aleksei Kolosov from the American Hockey League (AHL). An harm to Ersson gave Fedotov one last likelihood on Nov. 7, and he took benefit with a 2-1 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tonight (Nov. 14), one other ailment to Ersson allowed Fedotov to do it once more. He didn’t precisely observe that effort up with an elite one on paper, however he confronted some powerful photographs and turned apart 33 of the 37 he noticed.

The Flyers can now believe when Fedotov is of their web. The 27-year-old’s positioning has been rather a lot higher and he has seemed eons extra comfy than he did simply a few weeks in the past. It wasn’t his night time in the event you simply take a look at his save share, however he gave an in any other case uncooperative protection an opportunity.

Konecny on His Patented Early-Season Heater

In latest seasons, Konecny has performed his greatest proper when a brand new marketing campaign will get going. On a five-game level streak and as much as 9 targets and 10 assists for 19 factors in 16 contests, he’s in peak type.

Konecny’s breakaway tally to even the rating at 2-2 is the proper instance of what he can do when issues are clicking. His normal inconsistencies scoring-wise make it so his season-ending level totals don’t inform the total story (in his latest previous, no less than). He can utterly change the result of a sport, so he has an immense affect on the Flyers’ success.

Foerster Stays Snakebitten

Wait, weren’t we right here this time final season? Tyson Foerster can’t purchase a objective proper now regardless of having a can’t-miss likelihood tonight. Targets and factors evaded him within the first half of his rookie marketing campaign, and we’re seeing the identical factor now.

The 22-year-old has simply two targets and three factors in 16 video games. You need a first-round choose who had some sleeper Calder Trophy love (107 votes) to be greater than a forgettable bottom-six presence, however that’s all that Foerster has been. Without having star linemates isn’t serving to, he hasn’t earned the precise to play with somebody like Konecny or Michkov.

It’s clearly not time to surrender on him, however Foerster wasn’t precisely a dynamic risk for the Orange and Black final season, both. The Flyers are in determined want of some offensive upside—he’s simply not a participant who has introduced that. As soon as he will get out of his rut (an inevitability), hopefully, he can play how he did towards the tip of his earlier marketing campaign, which noticed him hit the 20-goal mark regardless of solely having 4 at its mid-point.

Richard May Be Right here to Keep

The Flyers have a little bit of a dilemma. With accidents to Cam York and Jamie Drysdale, they’ve been capable of check out some AHL gamers on their NHL roster within the meantime. A kind of has been Andrae, who has been terrific. The opposite is Richard, one of many group’s free-agent signings from the 2024 offseason.

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Richard, a 27-year-old with 28 NHL video games to his identify, labored exhausting to make impression on the Flyers in coaching camp. He carried out effectively within the preseason however didn’t make the group as a result of he by no means had a lot of an opportunity to start with—he was principally acquired for AHL firepower. Accidents and low-quality performances from the forwards on the group gave him a shot, and he hasn’t seemed again.

To not pile on, however Richard has extra factors (4) than Foerster does in 12 fewer video games. At this level, it’d be exhausting to ship the speedy ahead again to the AHL.

When York and Drysdale return, although, a alternative must be made. They’ve three netminders on the primary roster, so one in every of them will probably be despatched down virtually undoubtedly. However then, both Andrae or Richard, who’ve carried out effectively, or an NHL common must be despatched to the AHL. Something can occur—each of them have been so good that they’ve earned the precise to remain.

Though they nonetheless have a subpar 7-8-2 document, the Flyers are again to the no-quit angle that saved them alive final season. It’s inspiring to see their exhausting work. They’ll look to make that work repay once more of their subsequent contest the place they face the Buffalo Sabres at Wells Fargo Heart in Philadelphia on Nov. 16.