Thomas Chabot Injured As Flyers Defeat Senators For First Win Of the Season

The Philadelphia Flyers finally have their first win of the 2026-27 season.

Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone each had a goal and an assist as the Flyers (1-6-3) defeated the Senators 3-1.

It was a rough night all around for the Sens (6-3-0) who've scored just four regulation goals in their last three games. Not only did the Flyers first win come at their expense, but they also lost captain Thomas Chabot to injury.

Chabot appeared to hurt his right arm/wrist area, which has given him trouble at various times in his career for four or five years now.

In just nine games, the Senators have already had a season's worth of injuries on their blue line. Chabot joins Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, Nikolas Matinpalo, and Cam Crotty as defensemen who've missed time due to injury.

The loss is the first of the season for Linus Ullmark (6-1-0) who made 26 saves in the loss. Dan Vladar had 25 saves for the Flyers.

After a scoreless opening period, the Senators finally broke through at 5:55 of the second when Drake Batherson finished off a beautifully executed two-on-one with Claude Giroux. Giroux delivered a perfect cross-ice pass, and Batherson made no mistake, burying a one-timer for his fourth goal of the season. Tim Stützle picked up the secondary assist.

But the Flyers responded just over three minutes later, thanks in part to a couple of mistakes by Chabot, who threw the puck away in his own zone, then lost track of Porter Martone in front of the net. Martone tipped home a Matvei Michkov shot at 9:03 to tie the game at one.

Philadelphia then grabbed its first lead of the night with just 1:27 remaining in the period. On the power play, Michkov pounced on a rebound in front and knocked it home for his fourth goal of the season, with Martone and David Jiricek drawing the assists.

The Flyers carried the 2-1 lead into the third period.

About five minutes into the third, the Sens picked up the pace, with Warren Foegele ringing one off the iron for the second straight game.

The Sens got a late power play after Tyson Foerster flipped a puck over the glass. Interestingly, after his first unit tried and failed to tie it up, Travis Green opted to close a crucial power play with Warren Foegele, Ridly Greig, and Fabian Zetterlund up front.

The Sens pulled the goalie and pressed again for the equalizer until Trevor Zegras iced it with an empty net goal to give the Flyers the 3-1 win.

The moral of this hockey story: It's difficult to match the desperation of a winless team. That's a big reason why Philly was the better team on the night.

After failing to kick the Flyers while they were down, the Senators are now off until Wednesday when they host Brady Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers.

It will be interesting to see if the current captain will be healthy enough to face the old one.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

This story first appeared at The Hockey News Ottawa. For more Senators coverage from THN Ottawa, click one of the headlines below:

Brady Tkachuk Calls Panthers Fans "The Best in the NHL"

Sens Nation Podcast: Halliday Gets Chance On Senators Top Line
Report: Former Senators Forward David Perron Signs On For A 20th NHL Season
Inside the Senators' Gamble on Samuel Ersson, And Why They Believe It Can Work