Sean Couturier scores twice, Flyers get first win of Rick Tocchet era

The Flyers have their first win.

Sean Couturier scored twice, with the latter serving as the winner, Trevor Zegras made a clutch play late to get it to him, and the Flyers piled on a couple of empty netters soon after to put away the defending champion Florida Panthers, 5-2, in their home opener at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

They're 1-1-1 after an initial road trip full of some early rough patches to start. But maybe their on their way now.

Here are the highlights from Monday night in South Philly…

Big Z

Couturier lasered home the winning goal, but Trevor Zegras had his "Welcome to Philly" moment setting him up for it.

Handling the puck behind the Florida net as a late power play from a Sam Bennett slash expired, Zegras saw the pressure closing in, but it was almost like he welcomed it.

The checkers came crashing down on him, he bodied both of them away, then wired the puck out to the front of the net to a wide-open Sean Couturier, who already had one goal on the night.

The Flyers' captain quickly made it two with a pinpoint shot over Florida goalie Daniil Tarasov's shoulder for the 3-2 lead.

Z put it on a TEE. #FLAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/uXIKmYtrTO

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 14, 2025

But it all started with Zegras, who the Flyers took a calculated risk trading for over the summer in the hopes that he could prove a top-six center and a skater who could add a bit more punch to the power play.

He made his first mark Monday night, getting the Flyers to their first win as two empty-netters followed to ice it.

Captain's orders

Couturier produced a couple of vintage looks through the first period, dropped a hammer in the second, then had his winner in the third.

The veteran center knocked the puck away from Anton Lundell up by the point, and with the angle, he got the jump to turn it the other way for an early breakaway scoring chance that was turned away at the last second.

Then, with Florida trying to get the puck out from their zone along the wall midway through the frame, Couturier cut across and put his stick in the way of an attempted pass from Uvis Balinskis that turned possession over to him.

Couturier kicked the puck out to Tyson Foerster, who had dropped down in support, and the winger was free to cut in toward the hashmarks and drag a shot across his body. It beat Panthers goalie Dannil Tarasov for the 1-0 Flyers lead.

First on home ice? That belongs to Tys. #FLAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/iYrWX8wqOe

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 13, 2025

Couturier was called for a hook in front of the Florida net later in the second period, but was otherwise pretty controlling and brought it back later on, when he broke out over center ice from a turnover that flipped from Travis Sanheim to Travis Konecny and then to him to be left all alone with Tarasov again.

He picked his corner and didn't miss, sending the Flyers up 2-0 and the crowd on its feet chanting "Coooots!"

The Captain gets it done with a little help from the Travii. 🫡#FLAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/v1tx5uJqxB

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 14, 2025

The Flyers are getting younger, and they're still in need of a true high-end center and just higher quality depth down the middle in general. But Couturier, as the captain and even at 32, still very much has a role here.

If he can sustain as their main shutdown center, and even find a bit of offense as he did Monday night, calling back to his Selke form, he can get the Flyers by as they are right now as the defensively responsible forward presence that lets the more offensive parts like Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny go to work.

Power play pressure

The Flyers' power play didn't score on their five power play tries Monday night, which isn't great…

But it can move the puck around, and it can get some decent-looking shots on while keeping the puck rolling downhill.

The top power-play unit of Konecny, Owen Tippett, Michkov, Trevor Zegras, and Jamie Drysdale had Florida on its heels during the second period, working a constant, efficient cycle that opened up lanes and tired the Panthers' penalty killers out for a string of several chances in quick succession.

They kept the pressure on, Florida couldn't get out, and it was continuous up until the penalty kill clock hit zero.

There was no goal, but the effort alone was enough for fans to applaud it.

The power play, after years of being one of the league's worst, actually looks kind of decent now, at least on Monday night it did. It also ended up making a difference in the lead-up to Couturier's winner, as they kept the puck down in the offensive zone until the lane opened up for Zegras only after the timer ran out.

Vladar volatiliy

Dan Vladar got the nod Monday night for his second start of the season and looked good through two periods.

He kept the net looking small using his size, approach, and mechanics to take away space, much like he did on Thursday against the Panthers down in Sunrise.

Then the third period happened, mainly that shift where the Panthers kept the puck down in the Flyers' end for two minutes straight without a stoppage and a delayed Tippett tripping penalty.

The Panthers went on the power play and carried the puck down. Vladar got crossed up and lost track of the puck behind the net before realizing it had slipped back up to Sam Bennett with a lot of net to shoot at.

There was nothing he could do as Bennett fired it in for the 2-2 tie.

the cats and dogs (and us) have been waiting for this one 😸 pic.twitter.com/v74bvgnLoV

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) October 14, 2025

Still, he ultimately did hold off the final rush until Couturier's deciding goal, going on to stop 24 of 26 shots in total.

He has his first win as a Flyer, too.

A moment for No. 1

The Flyers were introduced Monday night, then they needed a moment to acknowledge Bernie Parent.

The iconic goalie, who was a central figure to the Broad Street Bullies and the back-to-back Stanley Cups, passed away last month at 80 years old.

But Parent was always more than that. He was someone who stayed in Philadelphia after he retired, someone who gave back, and was always willing to talk to anyone with the biggest smile on his face. He was a friend.

In the dark of Xfinity Mobile Arena, with Parent's No. 1 painted on the ice behind the nets and the spotlights focused on them, public address announcer Lou Nolan read off a tribute to a Flyers legend then asked the crowd to stand up and give a standing ovation rather than a moment of silence.

They obliged and echoed chants of "BERNIE!" one more time.