The Philadelphia Flyers opened the 2026-27 regular season with a 7-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Wednesday. The Flyers were as outplayed by the Penguins as the score suggests.
The Flyers played a flat-footed first period. They went off trailing 2-0 after goals from Nicholas Robertson (1st) and Ville Koivunen (1st).
In the second period, Evgeni Malkin (PPG, 1st) opened a 3-0 lead. A couple minutes later, the combination of a defensive lapse and a stoppable short side shot that wasn't stopped left Philly in a four-goal hole.
The gap then became five goals midway through the period. Filip Hallander (1st) extended the lead.
In the third period, Robertson (SHG) scored his second of the game, benefitting from a lucky bounce off the end boards that went into the net off Dan Vladar's right skate.
Vladar yielded seven goals on 38 shots. Arturs Silovs recorded a 19-save shutout.
1ST PERIOD
Vladar was tested with a pair of early shots from close range. Shots were 3-0 Pens through 2:38 and 4-1 through 4:00.
Travis Konecny had Philly's first bonafide chance two shifts later. The Flyers made their first push over the next several minutes. Rasmus Ristolainen knocked
down Crosby.
At 7:26, the Penguins took a 1-0 lead on a Robertson skate deflection of a Kris Letang shot. The secondary assist went to Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins went on the game's first power play at 10:42. Jamie Drysdale went off for holding.
The Flyers had a dangerous chance off the rush but the opportunity went awry due to an extra pass from Travis Konecny toward Tyson Foerster that missed the mark.
Trevor Zegras got caught on an ill-advised line change attempt without the puck, allowing Koivunen to go in from the blueline in and score at 15:44. The assists went to Samuel Girard and Kaeden Korczak.
Shots: Flyers 5 - Penguins 11
Faceoffs: Flyers 8 (Zegras 0-for-4, Acciari 3-for-4) -- Penguins 10
2ND PERIOD
Tippett was down on the ice when he was struck by a friendly fire shot. He returned to the bench.
At 3:23, Martone took a blatant cross-checking penalty in front of the Pittsburgh net. Tyson Foerster turned in a great PK shift including a shot off a Koivunen giveaway. Even so, the Flyers ended up paying dearly for the bad penalty.
At 5:03, Malkin blistered home a one timer from the high slot. The assists went to Hendrix Lapierre and Tomas Novak.
Lapierre beat Vladar on a short-side goal to make it 4-0 at 7:26. The assists belonged to Filip Hallander and Declan Carlile. Also during the play, Jamie Drysdale was beaten on the walls. Still a play where a save was needed.
Pittsburgh's Hallander (1st) was first to a loose puck ahead of Drysdale and made it 5-0 at 10:23. Assists went to Korczak and Girard.
At 12:37, the Flyers responded to Simon Benoit getting boarded. Philly ended up with a two-minute power play. Philly had one early chance. Konecny turned a puck over. With play back to even strength, Vladar erased an odd-man rush after a low percentage Foerster pass got picked off.
Vladar had to make a point-blank save on Robertson after a Crosby set up down low.
Nick Seeler got the only penalty (roughing) out of a late period scrum at 19:42.
Shots: Flyers 7 (12 overall) - Penguins 15 (26 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 13 (21 overall, Acciari 7-for-9) -- Penguins 6 (16 overall)
3RD PERIOD
Carlile went off for interference at 4:26. The Flyers generated some late pressure on their second power play of the game but they still didn't score.
Conor Dewar went off for interference at 10:19. At 11:52, Robertson scored shorthanded on a wide shot that bounced off the end wall and went into the net off Vladar's right skate. Hallander had the only assist.
Konecny took a penalty in an after-the-whistle scrum. Chinakov deflected home the Penguins' seventh goal of the night. Erik Karlsson and Rikard Rakell assisted.
Shots: Flyers 19 overall - Penguins 38 overall
Faceoffs: Flyers 37 overall -- Penguins 21 overall
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
Owen Tippett - Tvor Zegras - Porter Martone
Alex Bump - Noah Cates - Matvei Michkov
Tyson Foerster -Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny
Carl Grundstrom -Sean Couturier - Noel Acciari
Travis Sanheim - Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York - Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler - Simon Benoit
Dan Vladar
Joseph Woll
POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)
1. Flyers middle six: Cates and Dvorak lines
The Flyers didn't win many battles, regardless of the line.
2. Michkov
Third-year winger Matvei Michkov had a quiet night. He had one shot on goal on three attempts.
3. Special teams
The Flyers were 0-for-3 on the powerplay with a shorthanded goal allowed. They went 2-for-4 on the penalty kill.
4. Martone
Flyers rookie winger Porter Martone took a penalty in the second period that proved costly in what was a two-goal game. He finished with no shot attempts and multiple turnovers.
