Flyers vs. Senators: Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone End Philadelphia's Nine-Game Skid in a 3-1 Win

Ten games. That is how long the Philadelphia Flyers had to wait for the feeling of a win this season. Nine straight losses to open the year, a franchise record nobody in orange wanted, and a real chance of joining a very short and very unflattering list.

The wait ended on Saturday night. Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone each had a goal and an assist, Dan Vladar made 25 saves and the Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1 at Xfinity Mobile Arena for their first win of the season. According to NHL.com, the victory kept Philadelphia from becoming the 11th team in NHL history to lose its first 10 games.

Ottawa Strikes First, Again

For the first half of the game, the script looked familiar. A scoreless first period came and went, with each side getting a power play, and then Ottawa found the opening. At 5:55 of the second, Drake Batherson and Claude Giroux broke out on a 2-on-1, and Batherson one-timed Giroux's feed past Vladar for a 1-0 lead. Tim Stutzle picked up the second assist.

That was the eighth time in 10 games the Flyers had given up the first goal, per NHL.com. On a different night, with a different mood, that is where the season keeps sliding. Instead, the bench responded. Martone said Noah Cates spoke up after the goal, and Martone thought the tying goal came on the next shift.

"I think we got a lot of good leaders in this room, a lot of people on this team that can kind of pull people into the fight," Martone said.

The Kids Take Over

At 9:03, Martone went hunting. He stripped Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot in the Ottawa end, Michkov won the race to the loose puck and slid a nifty feed toward the far post, and Martone got a stick on it to beat Linus Ullmark. Tie game, 1-1, and a building that had seen very little go right suddenly had something to cheer.

The go-ahead goal came on the power play. Carter Yakemchuk was called for interference at 16:53, and Martone went to work again. His shot from the left side hit Ullmark's left pad, caromed off Michael Bunting in front and dropped to Michkov, who put it in behind the goalie at 18:33 for a 2-1 lead and his fourth goal of the season.

It was also Michkov's 50th career NHL goal, scored in his 171st game. The AP noted he is the fastest Flyers player to reach 50 since Matt Read in 2014. And for Bunting, the assist was his first point as a Flyer.

The Turning Point: Holding the Lead

The third period was the real test. For a team that had lost nine straight in every way imaginable, protecting a one-goal lead for 20 minutes is basically a final exam in a class you have been failing.

The Flyers passed. Ottawa pulled Ullmark with 2:27 left and, according to NHL.com, never got a shot on goal with the extra attacker. Trevor Zegras finally sealed it with an empty-net goal at 19:46, assisted by Christian Dvorak and Sean Couturier, and the arena could finally exhale.

Flyers coach Rick Tocchet saw a group that dug in. "It was a gutsy effort," he said. "A lot of guys hurt. Some guys stepped up."

Who Stood Out

Porter Martone: A goal and an assist in 13:28, plus the forecheck that started the tying goal. His chemistry with Michkov is very new, and he sounded excited about it. "That was our third game together, so I think we're kind of starting to read off each other, see our tendencies, see what we like," he said.

Matvei Michkov: A goal and an assist in 14:29, the power-play winner and a milestone. According to NHL.com, he and Martone became the first Flyers forwards with a multipoint game this season.

Dan Vladar: 25 saves on 26 shots, a .962 save percentage, and only Batherson's one-timer got by him.

Linus Ullmark: He made 25 saves too, and he deserved better. Ullmark lost for the first time this season after winning his first six starts, a run that tied Ray Emery for the most consecutive wins by an Ottawa goalie to open a season. NHL.com noted he has allowed two goals or fewer in seven straight games.

Claude Giroux: His assist on Batherson's goal gave him 1,171 career points, moving him past Bobby Hull for 59th in NHL history, per NHL.com.

Stats That Matter

• 11: Total goals the Flyers had scored in their first nine games. Saturday was the first time they scored more than two.
• 1 for 3: Philadelphia's power play, and the one conversion was the game-winner.
• 0: Shots on goal by Ottawa after pulling Ullmark for an extra attacker.
• 58.6 percent: Ottawa's faceoff win rate, one of the few areas where the Senators clearly controlled play.
• 28-22: Philadelphia's edge in hits, a sign of how hard the Flyers were willing to work for this one.

What It Means

The Flyers are now 1-6-3 with five points and plenty of ground to make up, but they are no longer staring at history. NHL.com also noted it was their first win against Ottawa in seven games, dating to Nov. 14, 2024, and the Senators had beaten them 2-1 in Ottawa on Oct. 8. Defenseman Travis Sanheim pointed at the next wave. "Our team goes with the young guys and the steps that they take and are going to continue to take," he said. Philadelphia hosts Colorado on Monday.

Ottawa falls to 6-3-0 with 12 points, and the Senators also lost Chabot, who did not play the third period because of an upper-body injury, per NHL.com. Warren Foegele did not sugarcoat it. "Hard to win in this league when you don't have all 23 guys going and tonight we didn't have everyone going," he said. The Senators open a three-game homestand against Florida on Wednesday.

Closing Take

Every losing streak eventually needs a moment that feels like the end of a bad sitcom season, and this one came from two young forwards playing like they had been teammates for years. Tocchet said it best: "Hopefully, we can carry it on." One win does not fix a season, but it does change the conversation.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.