Postgame RAV4: Flyers Hunt Down Ducks

In their first home game of the 2026 calendar year, the Philadelphia Flyers hit the midway point of their 2025-26 schedule with a 5-2 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

The first period was as action-packed and emotional as advertised. After Cutter Gauthier (PPG, 20th) gave the Ducks the game's first goal, Trevor Zegras answered back with even strength and power play tallies (16th and 17th) to grab a 2-1 lead.

The Flyers also dominated the second period. They spent seven minutes on the power play. Philly didn't score but peppered Anaheim with shot attempts. At five-on-five, goals by Cam York (3rd) and Travis Sanheim (5th) doubled the lead to 4-2.

Alex Killorn (PPG, 4th) narrowed the gap to 4-2 early in the third period. The play remained chippy and Anaheim kept taking penalties. Nikita Grebenkin (ENG, 3rd) added an empty net goal.

Dan Vladar stopped 16 of 18 shots to earn the win. In a losing cause, Lukas Dostal allowed four goals on 37 shots.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers came out roaring with three quality shots early. At 2:38, Noah Cates took exception to a high hit on Bobby Brink, who suffered an upper-body injury and had to leave the game. In defense of his teammates, Cates immediately dropped the gloves with Jansen Harkins. Cates got an instigator penalty tacked on to the fighting major.

Dostal made a point blank save on a shorthanded rebound chance for Carl Grundstrom. At 4:15, off a broken play, Gauthier blasted home a power play goal from the top of the right circle. The assists went to Jackson LaCombe and Troy Terry.

At 4:21, Zegras took a high sticking minor. The Flyers killed off this one.

Christian Dvorak was high-sticked and then knocked into the boards by Terry at 8:09. The Flyers went to their first power play.

At 10:22 it was Zegras' turn to blast home a shot for a goal. Scooping the puck off his knee, Zegras ripped the puck into the net from a sharp right wing angle. The assists went to Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny.

The Flyers went back to the power play at 12:49. Anaheim was called for too many men on the ice a moment after Konecny went one-on-one with Dostal. In a very similar goal to his first tally, Zegras one-timed home a York pass at 14:23 from the right circle. The helpers went to Cam York and Sean Couturier.

At 16:19, Vladar reached back along the goal line to prevent Gauthier from scoring his second goal of the period. A minor scrum ensued after the whistle.

The Flyers had their third power play of the period at 18:08. Beckett Sennecke went off for hooking. On a broken play, Dostal denied York in close. Eight seconds remained on the penalty at the buzzer.

Couturier won eight of nine faceoffs in the period. Scoring chances in the wide-open period favored the Flyers by an 18-10 margin across all game situations.

Shots: Flyers 13 - Ducks 5
Faceoffs: Flyers 13 - Ducks 7

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Vladar made an early save on Gauthier over the middle. At the other end, Owen Tippett put on a burst of speed. He missed the net from a prime angle.

The Flyers grabbed a 3-1 edge at 1:15. A York shot through traffic found the net. The assists went to Nikita Grebenkin and Cates.

Ross Johnston freight-trained Jamie Drysdale at 3:19 far away from the puck. It appeared retaliatory for a monstrous Garnet Hathaway hit on Ollen Zellweger moments earlier. Johnston received an interference major and game misconduct. Drydale needed assistance off the ice. He did not return.

Dostal stopped a Zegas bid for his third goal of the game. The Flyers missed the net wide on a pair of one-time blasts as well as three other shot attempts. The major expired without the Flyers extending the lead. As play returned to 5-on-5, Anaheim generated a scramble near the Philly net.

Hathaway was hit behind the net away from the puck by Leo Carlsson at 9:23. A Zegras shot from the right circle got blocked out of play. The Flyers had a slew of puck possession and several shots but Dostal continued to keep his team in the game.

Through 14 minutes, shots on goal were 13-3 Flyers. Anaheim iced the puck at 14:25.

Philly extended the lead to 4-1 at 14:40. A knuckling puck off the stick of Sanheim found its way into the net. The lone assist went to Cates.

At 14:55, Vladar denied a semi-breakaway from Ryan Strome. At the other Abols and Grebenkin each had chances. Vladar then denied Gauthier's third shot on goal (seventh shot attempt) of the game.

Shots: Flyers 18 (31 overall) - Ducks 5 (10 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 16 (29 overall) - Ducks 5 12 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Couturier received a tripping penalty just nine seconds into the period. Anaheim missed the net or got blocked on three shot attempts. At 1:25, Killorn swept a shot from the right slot into the net for a power play goal. The assists went to Terry and LaCombe.

At 3:31, Cates and Gauthier exchanged bumps and words at a stoppage of play. Nothing escalated.

Vladar denied a 2-on-1 rush for his 12th save of the game .At 5:22, Vladar reeled in a partially screened shot from Sennecke. The puck had good movement on it.

Hathaway crushed Ian Moore behind the net at 7:51. Gudas went right after Hathaway, and they fought. The call was five for fighting apiece with no additional penalties.

Denver Barkey got elbowed in the neutral zone by Jacob Trouba. The Flyers went back to the power play at 8:14. The Flyers got 45-second 5-on-3 at 9:29 when Chris Kreider high-sticked Cates.

More chaos ensued at 15:46, started by former Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas (elbowing minor).

Anaheim pulled Dostal for a 6-on-5 attack at 18:46, Grebenkin added an unassisted empty net goal.

Shots: Flyers 7 (38 overall) - Ducks 8 (18 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 11 (40 overall) - Ducks 13 (25 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae - Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen

Dan Vladar

{Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Zegras and Drysdale

Playing against his former team for the first time, Flyers leading scorer Trevor Zegras was fired up for this game from the first drop of the puck. The early Gauthier goal raised the stakes even higher. Zegras proceeded to blast two sniper goals past Dostal to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

Fellow former Anaheim player Jamie Drysdale played 5:56 across seven shifts before he was felled by Johnston's hit. He did not return.

2. Crowd energy and emotion

Tuesday's game, Ed Snider Legacy Game, had the home crowd rocking before the match even started. For one thing, it was the Flyers' first home game since before Christmas. Secondly, former Flyers first-round pick Cutter Gauthier was in the house on the opposing side. The home' team's challenge was to feed off the crowd's energy and emotion in a positive way. Philly did just that in front of the sold-out crowd of Flyers partisans.

3. Dvorak

Thursday's match was the first for Flyers center Christian Dvorak since he signed a five-year contract extension. On Tuesday night, the 29-year-old veteran helped set up the first Zegras goal. He also won eight of his first 11 faceoffs in the game.

4. Special teams

The Flyers and Ducks entered this game in respective power play funks that dated back to the start of December. In this game, the Flyers went 1-for-8 on the power play including a five-minute man advantage and a 5-on-3. They were just 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.