The first week of the Philadelphia Flyers' 2026-27 season is now completed, for better or for worse. The Flyers are still searching for their first win, dropping their first four games of the season.
However, there has been enough of a sample size to determine who are the winners and who are the losers of the Flyers' first week.
Winner: Joseph Woll
The Flyers haven't had the greatest performance to start the season, but that doesn't mean everyone has been having a bad start. Goaltender Joseph Woll has played in two of the Flyers' games this season and so far, he has been left out to dry.
In his season debut for the Flyers, Thursday, Oct. 1, he made 41 saves on 44 shots, earning a .932 save percentage (SV%). He managed to keep the New Jersey Devils at bay to force the game into overtime, but the Flyers offense couldn't help put in more work to make sure Philadelphia pulled out their first win.
On Saturday, Woll was back in the crease, and he had very similar results to his season debut. Once again, he made a high number of saves, 37 on 40 shots, and earned an SV% of .925. Woll helped the Flyers force the game into overtime, but the Flyers once again couldn't snag the two points.
He's only played in two games so far this season, but in both of them, Woll has been the Flyers saving grace. Both games resulted in overtime, which allowed the Flyers to pick up a point.
Loser: Dan Vladar
It's tough to put Vladar in the loser category, especially since he is just coming back from being injured during the preseason. However, his performance warrants this label. In the Flyers' home and season opener on Sept. 30, he allowed seven goals from the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's not like the rest of the team helped him out, since no one on the Flyers managed to score a goal in this game.
On Tuesday, Vladar made 32 saves on the Tampa Bay Lightning's 35 shots, earning an SV% of .914. While this was great, his late third period collapse allowed the Lightning to take a 4-1 win.
Vladar might still be dealing with injury, which is not a great sign. However, he was cleared to play in the regular season, so everything should be all right in that regard. Hopefully, he gets back to his regular season form soon; the Flyers desperately need it.
Winner: Rasmus Ristolainen
After a difficult 7-0 shutout loss to start the season, the Flyers had no choice but to get right back into a game the next day, on Oct. 1, against the New Jersey Devils. The Flyers played a rough 60 minutes, and they were still searching for their first goal of the season. 11 minutes into the first period against the Devils, that question was answered for the Flyers: Rasmus Ristolainen netted Philadelphia's first goal of the season.
Ironically enough, Philadelphia's first goal was scored by a defenseman. Last season, he only scored one goal. Already, Ristolainen is on the board with a goal, and it was the first one of the season. Let's see if he continues this offensive showing throughout the rest of the regular season.
Loser: Flyers' offense
Every game the Flyers have played in has been lacking in the one category that matters the most when it comes to winning a game: offense. The Flyers have not been able to generate enough offense, or any in their season opener, to make a difference and win the game.
The Flyers are getting ready to hit the ice again on Thursday, Oct. 8 against the Ottawa Senators. They will need to have their forwards ready to produce points to secure their first win of the season.
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