Postgame 5: Flyers Win Marathon Shootout in Elmont

The Philadelphia Flyers opened the 2025-26 preseason with a 3-2 (4-3) shootout win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont on Sunday.

Rodrigo Abols and Matvei Michkov scored regulation goals for the Flyers to bookend Kyle Palmieri and Marshall Warren tallies for New York. After a scoreless overtime, Philly prevailed in an 11-round shootout.

Michkov, Noah Cates and Abols converted their shootout attempts for Philadelphia. The latter two kept the Flyers alive. Finally, Emil Andrae scored the winning shootout attempt in Round 11.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission. A shot from Abols leaked through the five-hole of starting New York goaltender David Rittich. The former Calgary netminder later denied Lane Pederson on a prime scoring chance.

The Islanders controlled most of the second period, scoring two answered goals. Palmieri took advantage of a coverage breakdown to pot a Matthew Schaefer rebound. Former Lehigh Valley Phantoms goalie Parker Gahagen came in for Rittich midway through the frame. Later, at 16:48, Matthew Warren scored on a 2-on-1 setup from Mathew Barzal.

With 1:18 left in regulation and the Flyers attacking 6-on-5, Michkov got in deep and tied the game at 2-2. The game went to OT.

Rookie goaltender Carson Bjarnason (17 saves on 17 shots, 8-for-11 in the shootout) entered the game at the start of the third period, replacing Aleksei Kolosov (15 saves on 17 shots).

The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. They were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Pederson sustained an upper-body injury on a first period hit. He did not return to the game.

FLYERS LINEUP

29 Nikita Grebenkin - 46 Trevor Zegras - 39 Matvei Michkov
52 Denver Barkey -27 Noah Cates - 19 Garnet Hathaway
18 Rodrigo Abols - 25 Lane Pederson - 12 Devin Kaplan
68 Sawyer Boulton - 73 Jack Nesbitt - 56 Sam Tuomaala

5 Egor Zamula - 9 Jamie Drysdale
36 Emil Andrae -47 Noah Juulsen
13 Adam Ginning - 42 Spencer Gill

35 Aleksei Kolosov
64 Carson Bjarnason

POSTGAME 5 (Five Things Revisited)

1. Zegras' debut in orange and black.

The Zegras line with Michkov and Grebenkin was involved in several scoring chances. At one point, Zegras wasn't quite able to find a yawning net. Zegras hit the crossbar in overtime. He finished with 10 shot attempts (three on net). In the faceoff circle, he went 4-for-9. Zegras was unable to score on his shootout attempt.

2. Michkov starts his second NHL season.

Michkov attempted a "Michigan" lacrosse-style shot in the second period. He came very close to a goal early in the third period against Gahagen. With the Flyers' net empty for an extra attacker, he struck paydirt to force overtime. Michkov finished with six shots on goal. In the shootout, he scored on a backhanded shot.

3. Nesbitt's first NHL game.

The 12th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft wasted little time recording his first NHL preseason point. He intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, gained entry and fed the puck to Abols. He was unable to finish a backhand-to-forehand attempt in the shootout.

4.Drysdale begins a crucial year.

The speedy defenseman jumped into several plays offensively. Defensively, he blocked five shots. Finally, Drysdale sent a shot-pass to an open Michkov for the tying goal.

5. Young goalies in net.

Both Kolosov and particularly Bjarnason played well in their minutes in net.