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The Flyers Got Whooped in the Season Opener 

Matt Schultz

By Matt Schultz

Published:

Sep 30, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) reacts after allowing a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Everything was all lined up for the Flyers to make Wednesday a truly excellent Philly sports day. The Phillies won Game 2 of the Wild Card series in dramatic fashion by actually, shockingly, showing some heart and grit. Scott Franzke gave us another classic Franzke call. The Flyers were set to host the Penguins for their first season opener at home since 2022, and the energy at Stateside Live! before the puck dropped looked pristine: 

All the Flyers had to do was get a W… The vibes could’ve been real nice today…

But instead, they got absolutely whooped by the Penguins and lost 7-0.

It was a truly pathetic display. Giving up 7 goals in the NHL is an embarrassment, and to do it in front of the fans on opening night on your home ice is pretty much as bad as it gets. Honestly, it was kind of a tough game to wrap my arms around. The thing I’m struggling with is that there isn’t even one or two things to point to as the culprit for this beatdown — the whole team was dogshit.

  • The defense was atrocious. The Flyers were puck-watching all night. No one was picking up a body, no one was clearing Penguins out from the front of the net, and Pittsburgh was getting second-chance opportunity after second chance-opportunity by making a mess on the doorstep without any pushback at all. Such soft-ass defense.
  • The goaltending was hideous. I know Vladar is coming back from injury and has to get reacclimated to game speed, but holy shit, this was a sloppy, sloppy performance. I would’ve pulled Vladdy after the 4th goal. I don’t see how leaving the guy in for 7 helps anyone. It wasn’t his night. Get him off the ice.
  • The offense was non-existent. The Flyers couldn’t put on any pressure in the offensive zone. They couldn’t get any decent cycles going. They only managed to get 19 shots on goal compared to Pittsburgh’s 38. They were 0-for-3 on the powerplay. They also gave up a shorthanded goal. So damn bad.
  • Rick Tocchet had no answers all night. A loss this brutal has the coach’s fingerprints all over it. You gotta get your guys ready to play, and Tocchet simply didn’t do it. Here’s what he had to say after the game:

“I don’t know if we won a battle tonight. And when you don’t win battles, they have the puck, they — they out-coached us tonight. They outplayed us. They did everything better than us tonight… You know, I just saw, you know — you’re on TNT. Headline game. And I just thought — You know, we were down 4-0. Even some plays we were making, just disturbing plays, honestly. Obviously, we gotta figure this out quickly. Our D zone was the worst — since I’ve been here? It’s the worst D zone I’ve ever seen.”

Disturbing! He’s right! It was disturbing! A disturbing evening!

The Flyers are back at it tonight at the Devils at 7 PM. Here’s hoping this one is less disturbing.

Ending the Blog on a Hopeful, Positive Note

This was sick:

Matt Schultz
Matt Schultz

Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com