The Philadelphia Flyers (20-12-7) were unable to end the calendar year on a high note as they dropped a sleepy effort in Calgary by a score of 5-1.
The Flames (18-18-4) got goals from Mikael Backlund in the first, Connor Zary in the third, and sandwiched between them were three second period tallies from Jonathan Huberdeau, Rasmus Andersson, and Yegor Sharangovich. Dustin Wolf made 24 saves to earn his 14th win of the season.
Travis Konecny scored the lone goal for the Flyers, which cut the deficit to just one midway through the second period, but that was all she wrote for the Flyers offense. Samuel Ersson allowed 5 goals on 24 shots.
The Flyers end 2025 with a 20-12-7 record, while clinging to the third and final playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. Their first game of 2026 will be on Saturday night when they visit the Edmonton Oilers.
FIRST PERIOD
On just their second shot on goal in the game, which came at the 13:30 mark of the first period, the Flames opened the scoring off a howitzer from Backlund. Blake Coleman won a board battle in his own zone before sending the puck out to Sharangovich, who then entered the zone with speed and set up Backlund’s one-timer.
The period came to a close with the Flyers coming close to tying things up a few times. Trevor Zegras found Konecny off the wing but his shot was stopped by the pad of Wolf. Shortly after, Rasmus Ristolainen’s point shot deflected and rang off the post.
The shots were just 4 to 3 but the pace of the game was a lot better than the shot clock would make it seem. This was the 27th time the Flyers have allowed the first goal this season, so definitely not uncharted territory for the Orange and Black.
SECOND PERIOD
The Flames doubled their lead at the 3:08 mark after Huberdeau’s shot appeared to be deflected by Morgan Frost on its way past Ersson with a ton of traffic in front. Frost won the faceoff, the Flames then quickly set-up, before Huberdeau wired a shot through traffic that deflected off the former Flyer. It was later credited to Huberdeau as it apparently deflected off Jamie Drysdale.
The Flyers looked to have cut the deficit 1:04 later after Nick Seeler’s point shot got past Wolf, but it was reviewed and overturned for goaltender interference. Carl Grundström made a move to the blue paint and was deemed to have interfered with Wolf.
The Flyers did receive a power play because there was a delayed call before the goal was scored. Christian Dvorak had a couple of chances and Denver Barkey set up a few chances as well, but the Flyers’ power play slumped to 3 for their last 31 with their first donut of the night.
Philadelphia eventually cut the deficit back to one after the puck barely crossed the line with 11:11 remaining in the period. The initial shot was stopped by Wolf, the puck trickled through his crease, before Nazem Kadri knocked it into his own goal. It was originally ruled no goal, but after a quick conference, Konecny was rewarded with his 16th of the season.
Cam York was called for a tripping minor and just 4 seconds later they nabbed Dvorak for a high-sticking minor, sending the Flames on a 5-on-3 for a 1:56. With 18 seconds remaining on the 2-man advantage, the Flames took a 3-1 lead after a one-timer from Andersson beat Ersson with 7:57 remaining in the period.
After Drysdale was nailed for a delay of game minor, the Flames added to their lead after Sharangovich roofed one over Ersson’s glove from the slot with just 2:08 remaining. Dvorak and Travis Sanheim were robbed of a goal a few plays before the Flames’ relentless pressure broke through the Flyers’ defense again.
THIRD PERIOD
The Flames added insult to injury midway through the third period when Connor Zary beat Ersson far-side off the post. Their relentless forechecking paved the way for another goal, as the Flyers turned it over behind the net before the puck found its way to Zary all alone in front of the goaltender.
The rest of the period was elementary as both clubs looked to wind the clock down. The Flyers had their chances early in the game but were unable to solve Wolf, whereas the same couldn’t be said about the Flames and Ersson.
The penalty kill did the goaltender no favours and the offense firing just 19 shots on goal through the first 55 minutes of the game was never going to help.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will come out of the New Year with a road game on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers (3:30pm ET; NBCSP).
