Philadelphia is in Canada's capital city on Thursday to meet the Ottawa Senators, and the trip comes with a simple question attached: can the Flyers finally get their first win of the 2026-27 season? Rick Tocchet's club enters at 0-2-2, while Travis Green's Senators are 2-1-0, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. EDT at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Flyers are trying to stop a skid that has already exposed the same problem in different forms. On Monday in Tampa, they lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, with Tyson Foerster scoring their only goal and Dan Vladar making 32 saves on 35 shots. That was the kind of goaltending that should keep a team in a game, but Philadelphia has spent much of the opening stretch chasing it from behind instead of building around it.
Wednesday brought another turn in the roster. The Flyers signed Michael Bunting to a one-year contract and sent Alex Bump to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, a move that gives them another piece to work into the forward mix while they keep sorting out the lineup around Zegras. He has one assist through four games and remains central to the team's effort to turn a hybrid role into a full-time No. 1 center job.
The issue has been bigger than one line or one player. Through four games, the Flyers have been outshot by 82 shots on goal and sit last in the NHL in high-danger chance share at 26.55 percent. They are 0-for-11 on the power play and have allowed four opposing power-play goals on 15 opportunities. Even with Vladar's strong night in Tampa and other solid stretches of goaltending, the Flyers have not controlled enough of the ice to make that support count.
Ottawa has its own flaws, coming off a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, when Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and William Eklund scored for the Senators. The matchup gives Philadelphia a chance to reset before a demanding stretch that includes three games in four nights and four games in six nights, but the calendar will not soften the underlying problem. The Flyers need a result now, and Thursday is the first test of whether the changes around the roster can translate into one.
For Philadelphia, the next step is less about style than survival: turn better goaltending into points before the schedule tightens further.
