Flyers Game Preview vs. Senators: Opportunity to Change the Narrative

Continuing their road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre at 7 p.m. on Thursday night, searching for their first win of the young 2026-27 season amid an 0-2-2 start.

Desperation is, or at least should be, beginning to creep in for the Flyers, who barely look the part of a cohesive hockey team through the first handful of games leading to their winless start.

The Flyers are the last remaining team in the Eastern Conference without a win this season.

New free agent signing Michael Bunting, who is replacing Alex Bump on the NHL roster, is set to make his Flyers debut against the Senators on Thursday night, with head coach Rick Tocchet also shaking the lines up in a major way.

Goalie Joseph Woll will make his third start of the season after Dan Vladar started Monday night against Tampa Bay.

Woll has been one of the best goalies in the NHL early on in the season, surging to a 2.87 GAA and .929 save percentage in his two starts - both overtime losses.

Flyers lines vs. Senators

via The Inquirer's Gabriella Carroll in Ottawa

Travis Konecny - Sean Couturier - Porter Martone

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Owen Tippett

Tyson Foerster - Denver Barkey - Matvei Michkov

Michael Bunting - Noah Cates - Noel Acciari

Travis Sanheim - Jamie Drysdale

Cam York - David Jiricek

Nick Seeler - Simon Benoit

Joseph Woll (S), Dan Vladar

Senators lines for Flyers game

William Eklund - Tim Stutzle - Drake Batherson

Ridly Greig - Dylan Cozens - Fabian Zetterlund

Michael Amadio - Shane Pinto - Claude Giroux

Warren Foegele - Stephen Halliday - Nick Cousins

Thomas Chabot - Jordan Spence

Tyler Kleven - Carter Yakemchuk

Cameron Crotty - Nikolas Matinpalo

Flyers special teams

Power play: 0-for-11, 0.0% (31st)

Penalty kill: 11-for-15, 73.3% (22nd)

Senators special teams

Power play: 1-for-13, 7.7% (25th)

Penalty kill: 10-for-13, 76.9% (18th)

How to watch the Flyers game

Thursday night's Flyers game can be found on RDSI, TSN5, and NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Flyers player to watch

Defenseman David Jiricek has earned his way into a top-four role for the Flyers after a strong game against Tampa Bay, even if his high-profile turnover that effectively ended the game painted his performance in a dour light.

Rasmus Ristolainen is on the road trip for the Flyers but appears questionable at best, leaving the Flyers and Tocchet to rely on Jiricek and Travis Sanheim with Cam York and Jamie Drysdale badly struggling.

According to Gabriella Carroll, Jiricek is now quarterbacking the top power play unit in addition to moving up next to York, giving the former No. 6 overall pick his best opportunity yet to make a strong impression in a Flyers uniform.

Remember, Jiricek is still just 22 years old and on his third team, so it will take some time for him to settle in, get comfortable, find his reads in the system, and slow down the pace of play the NHL level.

He's already an all-star caliber player at the AHL level, but it's now up to Jiricek and the Flyers to bridge the gap to the big leagues and get the player to his full potential, or somewhere close to it.