Flyers on Wrong Side of NHL History With Rare Stat Amid Winless Start to 2026 Season

The Philadelphia Flyers are off to one of the most lopsided winless season starts in NHL history.

The Flyers have been outscored 17-5 and outshot 158-76 during the team's 0-2-2 start to the 2026-27 campaign.

That marks the largest shot deficit through four NHL games for any team since 1959, according to Flyers reporter Wayne Fish.

The Flyers have gone 0-for-11 on the power play in their first four games while getting badly outshot from the slot and off the rush, per NHL Network's Mike Kelly.

The Flyers were coming into the campaign off a strong finish to last season, during which they went 6-2-0 in April to secure a playoff spot for the first time since 2020 before eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins from the first round.

Rick Tocchet's team has yet to build on that campaign. The Flyers opened this season with a 7-0 loss to the Penguins, then blew consecutive third-period leads in overtime losses to the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes.

"You have to get the puck. You have to execute plays," Tocchet said about getting outshot 40-18 in the loss to the Hurricanes. "Our execution is not good this year. It really isn't. And if you don't execute, you're not going to get shots."

The Flyers were most recently outshot 36-14 in a 4-1 Monday night loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning during which Tocchet said his team was "way too comfortable."

Flyers-Lightning Highlights

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Philadelphia general manager Danny Briere attempted to add a top-line center by offer sheeting Leo Carlsson this offseason, only to see the deal matched by the Anaheim Ducks.

That left the Flyers for the most part running things back with the relatively inexperienced roster that took this franchise back to the playoffs last season.

The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported ahead of the season start the Flyers were "believed to be eyeing defensive depth" after adding only Simon Benoit to the blue line this offseason.

At least one offseason addition has already been making an impact for the Flyers. Goaltender Joseph Woll, who was acquired alongside Benoit from the Toronto Maple Leafs in June, kept the Flyers competitive in both their overtime losses despite his team's lack of offensive production.

Briere could hope adding defensive depth will help the Flyers support Woll and Dan Vladar as Tocchet's young offense works on gelling down the stretch, starting with a Thursday evening road game against the Ottawa Senators.