Winless Flyers suffer ninth straight loss, have scored just 1.22 goals per game originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers’ disastrous start to the season reached another low point Thursday night.
The team lost its ninth game in a row by dropping to the Red Wings, 2-1, at Little Caesars Arena.
Rick Tocchet’s club had already set the franchise record for the longest skid to start a season four nights ago when it lost its seventh straight. Now the Flyers are just adding to this ugly mark.
On Thursday night, the Flyers had their first lead since the third game of the season. Matvei Michkov provided it by batting one home with 2:28 minutes left in the opening stanza.
But Detroit tied the game 4:31 minutes into the second period and took the lead with 4:38 left in the third.
The Flyers had a golden opportunity to force overtime with eight seconds to go, but Oliver Bonk’s shot at the doorstep went wide.
This season-opening spiral has been a serious one-eighty.
The Flyers had won 22 of their last 31 games heading into last season’s second-round playoff series against the Hurricanes. Since then, they’ve lost 13 straight — a sweep to Carolina and nine consecutive this season.
Tocchet’s club has been outscored 32-11 in these nine games (excluding shootout goals). The Flyers have scored an unsightly 1.22 goals per game. Last season, Tocchet’s first as the team’s head coach, the Flyers had 24 goals through nine games (2.67 per game) and were 5-3-1.
“I can’t get frustrated,” Tocchet said Wednesday after practice. “If [the players] see me frustrated and getting upset, what’s that going to do? I’ve got to be a teacher. Keep teaching, keep teaching, keep pounding it.”
The Red Wings picked up their second win of the season (2-3-2).
• Joseph Woll did his job again, converting 24 saves on 26 shots.
Andrew Copp scored Detroit’s game-winning goal. The Red Wings rimmed the puck into the offensive zone and went to work on the Flyers’ third defensive pair of Simon Benoit and David Jiricek.
In the second period, 13 seconds after the Flyers came up empty on a power play, they surrendered their lead. They gave up a 2-on-1 rush and Anton Johansson took advantage by squeezing a shot through Woll.
Owen Tippett lost the puck as he entered the offensive zone and Bonk was in too deep.
Detroit netminder Daniil Tarasov stopped 17 of the Flyers’ 18 shots.
With 1:16 minutes left in the second period, Tyson Foerster put the Red Wings on a power play. He tripped Alex DeBrincat when the Detroit winger didn’t have a stick.
On the Red Wings’ power play, Noah Cates had a chance to give the Flyers the lead. Tarasov, though, denied Cates’ shorthanded look from the slot with 21 seconds to go in the middle frame.
• The Flyers have at least been more competitive, but they’ve been inept offensively. They’ve been held to one or fewer goals six times and they own a minus-119 shot differential.
As a result, they’ve fallen into one of these dreadful slides again.
In a span of under five years, the Flyers have had the following losing streaks:
13 games — 0-10-3 from Dec. 30, 2021-Jan. 25, 2022
10 games — 0-8-2 from Nov. 18-Dec. 8, 2021
10 games — 0-7-3 from Nov. 10-26, 2022
9 games — 0-6-3 from Sept. 30-Oct. 15 (current)
8 games — 0-6-2 from March 24-April 9, 2024
• Rasmus Ristolainen missed his sixth straight game, but he was able to practice Wednesday.
Tocchet called the defenseman day to day and said he’s “getting better.” Ristolainen is recovering from an injury to his left hand. The Flyers definitely could use his top-pair presence.
Cam York, who’s dealing with an upper-body injury, missed his fourth straight game. The defenseman has been considered day to day.
Travis Konecny also missed his fourth straight game. The winger has a lower-body injury. He’ll be eligible to come off injured reserve next game, but it’s uncertain if he’ll actually be cleared to return then.
Konecny’s absence has probably been the biggest for the Flyers because of their inability to score.
• The Flyers are back in action Saturday when they host the Senators (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
