Lightning Beat Flyers 4-1 as Vasilevskiy Ties Andy Moog for Wins

The Philadelphia Flyers opened their season with four straight losses for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign after a 4-1 defeat against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dan Vladar stopped 32 shots for Philadelphia, and Tyson Foerster scored the team’s lone goal, while Andrei Vasilevskiy secured his 372nd career victory to tie Andy Moog on the all-time wins list.

Tampa Bay Lightning Control the Pace Early

Brayden Point opened the scoring for Tampa Bay at 16:05 of the first period by redirecting a shot from John Carlson below the hash marks. Point noted that the team emphasized winning puck battles after their season opener, stating that shots in traffic create strong offensive chances. Alexander Holmberg added to the lead just 17 seconds into the second period off the rush to make it 2-0.

Philadelphia Flyers Struggle to Generate Offense

Tyson Foerster cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:22 of the second period when his shot from the top of the left circle deflected off Tampa Bay defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous. However, Philadelphia has now been restricted to two or fewer goals in all four of its opening games. Denver Barkey made his season debut for the Flyers after missing the first three contests due to an undisclosed lower-body injury.

Late Goals Seal Tampa Bay Victory

Ilya Mikheyev extended the Lightning lead to 3-1 at 17:00 of the third period by tucking in a backhand wraparound following a pass from Holmberg, marking his first goal since signing a four-year, $15.4 million contract with Tampa Bay on July 1. Brandon Hagel capped the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:53. Nikita Kucherov collected two assists in the contest, pushing his career total to 1,128 points and passing Mike Bossy and Joe Nieuwendyk for 67th place all-time.

Locker Room Reactions to a Winless Start

Vladar expressed frustration with the team’s ongoing struggles following the loss.

We’ve got to be better and it starts with me and (Joseph Woll). Hopefully we’re going to turn this thing around because, obviously, this is not us. This is not fun. Obviously, our game is not at the level it should be.

NHL.com

Upcoming Schedule for Both Clubs

The Philadelphia Flyers travel to face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in search of their first victory of the season. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning return home to host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.