The Flyers got into a track meet and came up limp in the end.
Although the score indicated otherwise, the Philadelphia Flyers were completely outclassed by the New Jersey Devils in their 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday night.
By the end of the night, the Devils out-attempted the Flyers 74-34 at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, and 96-41 overall thanks to four power play opportunities courtesy of the Flyers.
Generally speaking, the Flyers played within their structure much better than they did in Wednesday's 7-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a dreary home opener, but the Devils' talent was far too much for the Flyers to handle.
That is especially true when the Flyers themselves have struggled to make basic passes and connect on plays, whereas the Devils looked like the Harlem Globetrotters in contrast.
"Still some hockey IQ mistakes, not some smart hockey. We got to really buckle down here," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said after the loss.
Rasmus Ristolainen opened the scoring for the Flyers on Thursday night, scoring with an surprisingly deft deflection in front of Jake Allen on a long-range shot from Travis Sanheim on a delayed penalty.
New Jersey's Dougie Hamilton scored the only goal of the second period to tie the game at 1-1, though Sanheim uncorked another blast at the top of the third period to restore the Flyers' one-goal lead.
To tie the game for the Devils once again, Luke Hughes found soft ice in the slot, received a tidy pass from Luke Evangelista, and buried a bullet past Joseph Woll, who made an outstanding 41 saves on 44 shots (.932%) in his first start of the season.
"They feed off the rush, and if we keep turning it over, neutral zone, they're gonna go down and make their plays," Flyers forward Christian Dvorak assessed. "We're lucky we got a point because of Woller."
Sanheim agreed: "If it wasn't for Woller there, it could've been a lot worse ... What a performance from him, and obviously good to see and happy for him and the way that he was able to play, [the result is] unfortunate."
Jack Hughes ended the game in overtime, racing down the ice in transition, recognizing Travis Konecny was the lone man back on defense, and tapping in the game-winner.
Forwards Alex Bump, Porter Martone, and Carl Grundstrom effectively ended the game benched for the Flyers; Bump and Grundstrom each played just one shift in the third period, while Martone played four.
"I needed some lines to somewhat control Jack. He was caving some of our lines, and I just tried to get the best nine, I thought, for tonight," Tocchet said of the line changes.
The Flyers at least earned their first point of the young 2026-27 season, but the overall outlook is bleak through a two-game winless start and very little offense generated.
After a day off on Friday, the Flyers will be back at it at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m.
