The Philadelphia Flyers had an opportunity to get back on track at home on Saturday afternoon. Following a five-game losing streak that saw a combination of injuries, tough opponents, and scheduled losses pile up, a home matinee against the worst team in the Eastern Conference seemed like the chance to right the ship.
We wrote on Friday afternoon that the Flyers needed to beat the Rangers to avoid full-on panic mode. Hell, a decent effort in a loss would’ve been palatable after a few straight blowout losses. But that was not the case.
The Flyers did score first with Travis Konecny beating Spencer Martin off a great pass from Trevor Zegras, and it looked like maybe they would be able to end their skid. However, Rick Tocchet went with Aleksei Kolosov between the pipes, and his day was short-lived in the crease.
The Rangers scored on their first, second, and third shots of the game in a 1:20 span to end Kolosov’s afternoon. Not all of the goals were on Kolosov, as the Flyers continued their poor defensive play in front of whoever is in net, but the goalie looked lost out there, and he was quickly replaced by Sam Ersson.
Ersson did make some big saves in net, but he, too, allowed three goals, albeit on 25 shots, as the Rangers skated to a 6-3 victory in Philadelphia, and the New York fans made their presence felt.
If this were one loss mixed in with some up-and-down play, perhaps it could be overlooked. But this has become a theme over the last 10 days since beating the Anaheim Ducks. The Flyers haven’t had the effort they’ve needed, and they know it.
“We sucked,” Sean Couturier said after the Flyers’ sixth-straight loss. “Plain and simple.”
Sean Couturier: "We sucked. Plain and simple."
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) January 17, 2026
Couturier has just 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) in 46 games this season. The captain hasn’t scored a goal since December 7 in a 3-2 loss to the Avalanche.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Flyers. In fact, the rest of the month only gets tougher from here.
Rasmus Ristolainen reportedly won’t travel with the team on their upcoming road trip, Bobby Brink remains out, and Rodrio Abols suffered a gruesome leg injury in Saturday’s loss. Dan Vladar may be able to return sometime in the next week or so, but even he can’t save the Flyers right now.
The Flyers now embark on a three-game road trip out west against some formidable opponents.
It starts on Monday night in Vegas against a Golden Knights team that won six straight heading into Saturday. The Mammoth are after that on Wednesday night, and Utah has gone 5-0-1 in its last six prior to Saturday’s game against the Kraken. And finally, the Flyers visit the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night to conclude the road trip. That’s the Avalanche team that is pacing to post one of the best records in NHL history.
The Flyers certainly sucked on Saturday afternoon, and this road trip might extend their losing streak to nine games. Something may have to happen sooner rather than later in Philadelphia.
