After winning their 2024-2025 season opener 3-2 in a shootout thriller against the Vancouver Canucks, the Philadelphia Flyers rattled off six straight losses (regulation and OT).
However, the sun is starting to shine on the City of Brotherly Love. They have won three of their last four, including a 2-0-1 record (five points) during Week 5, which ran from November 8 to November 11 for our purposes. Interestingly, they won all three of those via overtime or shootout, which means of their seven wins, only three have come in regulation. They have put together several upset wins, though, which means they could be an interesting wager opportunity moving forward.
Nonetheless, a win is a win, and if you’re considering sports betting in Alberta or other regions, the Flyers’ recent strong performances—especially in close games—could offer an interesting wager opportunity. Oddsmakers may not yet have fully adjusted their lines, so now might be the time to take advantage of the Flyers’ current momentum.
Without further ado, here’s how Philadelphia has fared over the past week and which players are most responsible for their recent success.
Game 15 (Nov. 09) // Florida Panthers 4 Philadelphia Flyers 3 (OT)
The reigning Stanley Cup champions were always going to be a tough out, especially considering they came into this one on a six-game winning streak. The fact that this ended 3-3 after regulation might have distracted you from the fact that both goalies, Philly’s Samuel Ersson, who stopped 28 of 31 shots, and Sergei Bobrovsky, who saved 34 of 37 before making four more stops in the shootout, both played out of their minds.
The Flyers went up 1-0 in the first period but were then forced to chase the Panthers after going down 2-1 and 3-2. They tied it up both times, however, and were able to come away with a point on the road against the Stanley Cup champs. Not too shabby a performance.
Game 16 (Nov. 11) // Philadelphia Flyers 4 San Jose Sharks 3 (SO)
Thankfully for the Flyers, the second-worst team in the league, the San Jose Sharks, was coming to town next. The Sharks have 13 points in the season, tied for the fewest in the Western Conference, and just one more than the worst tally in the entire NHL, which belongs to the Montreal Canadiens (12 points).
The Flyers were expected to cruise, and that’s exactly what they were doing at first. Erik Johnson, Travis Konecny, and Matvei Michkov all scored for Philly in the first 25 minutes of the game, only for the Sharks to mount a furious comeback in which they scored the tying goal with just 2.5 minutes left. Thankfully for Flyers fans, they had a little magic left, as they took the ensuing shootout 2-0.
Game 17 (Nov. 14) // Ottawa Senators 4 Philadelphia Flyers 5 (OT)
The Senators are just a touch ahead of the Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings, with one more point (17) and one fewer game played than Philadelphia. They once again went up early in the first period through a Travis Sanheim slapper, but the Senators scored four of the next five goals to take a 4-2 lead midway through the third period.
However, the Flyers had answers, as they’ve had all week. It took them just 37 seconds to respond to Ottawa’s fourth goal, and two minutes after that, the game was all square again at 4-4. There was no need for a shootout this time, as Matvei Michkob took care of business just five minutes into overtime, ripping a wrister past Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark, who allowed five goals on just 19 shots on the night.
Flyers Three Stars of the Week
3rd Star: Travis Sanheim, Defenseman
Travis Sanheim led the Flyers in ice time in all three games this week by a pretty large margin, putting in at least 28 minutes in all three. However, he was also crucial on the offensive end, especially against the Senators.
In Ottawa, he scored the opener before assisting on the game-tying goal at the end of regulation and the game-winning goal in overtime.
2nd Star: Travis Konecny, Right Wing
Philly’s leading scorer so far this season—and by a pretty hefty amount (19 points compared to 13 for the next best guy)—kept rolling last week. He is currently on a five-game point streak, which includes all three games from Week 5. He assisted on a game-tying goal against Florida, he scored a power-play goal and the shootout winner against the Sharks, and against the Sens, he scored early on before setting up our 1st Star for the overtime winner. Four points is not a bad week’s work.
1st Star: Matvei Michkov, Right Wing
He hasn’t been as potent as Konecny for the entirety of the season, but Matvei Michkov was Philly’s most efficient offensive player in Week 5. He missed the shootout loss to the Panthers, but he returned with a vengeance in the final two games of the week.
Against the Sharks, he assisted on Konecny’s PP goal, scored one of his own, and then scored on his turn in the penalty shootout, setting up Konecny to net the winner. The cherry on top was Michkov’s beautiful overtime winner against the Senators on Thursday, which gave him three points in his last two games.
PHOTO: Soerli/Pixabay
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