Live Film Room: The Flyers’ Best Game of the Season Was a 3-2 OT Loss in Edmonton

The Flyers lost 3-2 in overtime in Edmonton on an Evan Bouchard winner, and it was without a doubt their most complete effort of the season. Beating McDavid and Draisaitl in overtime is never easy. Getting there the way they did is the story.

Whatever was said to this group before the game about the Seeler and Michkov argument or the Weekes report, whether it came from Briere, Tocchet, Jones or someone else, it clearly worked. I loved the way they bounced back given everything they were facing from the media and the fans.

How this was made: These were live updates. I posted each clip on X as the game went on, a few minutes after each play happened. This video is all six of them in one place, plus one clip that needed no breakdown at all.

The D keep it alive

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (0:51)

This was the theme of the night. The Flyers defensemen did a great job jumping on loose pucks and wrapped pucks to keep them in the offensive zone. You know it is a great shift when you can get a line change without ever leaving the zone.

After the first period my message was simple. You can’t win the game in the first, but you can certainly lose it there. The Flyers did their job. The ask from there was to keep playing tight defensively, stay relentless on the forecheck, and have the D keep holding the line.

First goal against: three chances to stop it

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (3:32)

You can pretty much put the first goal against on three guys. Owen Tippett had a chance to break the puck out, or just stop behind the net and slowly regroup. Travis Sanheim had a chance to win the puck back and instead let Nugent-Hopkins have it. Then Oliver Bonk lost Zach Hyman and let him get open. Any one of those three plays goes the other way and that puck is not in the net.

The power play they needed

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (5:25)

I said it before it started. Score before the end of the second period and you carry momentum into the third. Get nothing going and it is a long 20 minute intermission. The first unit went to work and Tyson Foerster finally got on the board. That goal sent the Flyers into the third down by only one.

Bunting wins it 1 on 2

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (8:02)

A great shift and a great battle by Michael Bunting to win a puck down low against two Oilers. And if someone tracked potential assists, you have to imagine Matvei Michkov would be at the top of the list. He set up another chance here that did not go in.

Pinch, pinch, pinch: the Sanheim goal

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (9:35)

I called it out earlier in the night that the D had to keep pinching on 50/50 pucks and wrapped pucks in the offensive zone. On this shift three defensemen do exactly that. Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler and Sanheim all keep the pressure on, and it ends with Sanheim tying the game 2-2 with six minutes left in the third.

The OT winner

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (11:01)

The Flyers were inches away from Jamie Drysdale sending Michkov the other way on a breakaway. Instead it ends up in the back of their net. That is overtime against 97 and 29. It does not change how I feel about the game.

One bright spot: Michkov’s minutes

Michkov played 20:44 and picked up an assist. He should have had a few more. For everything that has been said about him this week, that is what a response looks like.

One more for the road

▶ Play this part of the breakdown (13:34)

No formal breakdown on this one. I just found it hilarious that Michkov went so far out of his way to get Seeler a pass that he went between his own legs to attempt it. It is not the right play. You would rather see him drive the net there. I am sure people will have fun with it anyway.

What I’d like to see moving forward

• The same game on Saturday in Columbus. Tight defensively, relentless on the forecheck.
• The defensemen keep holding the line and pinching on 50/50 pucks. It created the tying goal.
• Michkov keeps getting 20 minutes a night.
• Cleaner puck decisions behind their own net. The first goal against was avoidable three different ways.

Was this the Flyers’ best game of the season? Let me know in the comments or on X at @BroadStBreakout.

Every player and team card is at broadstbreakout.com/players.

Film from the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast, Flyers at Oilers, Nov. 11, 2026. I will add the InStat numbers from this game to this piece once they are in.