Flyers hold off Senators for first win of season

PHILADELPHIA -- Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov each had a goal and an assist, and the Philadelphia Flyers won their first game of the season, 3-1 against the Ottawa Senators at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Dan Vladar made 25 saves for Philadelphia (1-6-3), which avoided becoming the 11th team in NHL history to lose its first 10 games of a season.

"It was a gutsy effort," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "A lot of guys hurt. Some guys stepped up. It's a good hockey team over there. It was nice to see some resiliency. It was good. Saw a lot of compete tonight, some better execution. There's some stuff that we really liked tonight. Hopefully, we can carry it on."

Drake Batherson scored for Ottawa (6-3-0). Linus Ullmark made 25 saves.

"Hard to win in this league when you don't have all 23 guys going and tonight we didn't have everyone going," Senators forward Warren Foegele said. "They were more desperate tonight and it showed."

Batherson put the Senators ahead 1-0 at 5:55 of the second period, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Claude Giroux.

But rather than wilt after allowing the game's first goal for the eighth time in 10 games, the Flyers pushed and got a tying goal from Martone at 9:03. He poked a puck away from Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot in the Ottawa zone, and Michkov was first on the loose puck. His shot-pass from the left side went off Martone's stick and past Ullmark in the crease.

"I think we had a lot of momentum," Martone said. "We were on them and our line gets scored on there, and I think 'Catesy' (Noah Cates) says it on the bench, we got one back here, and I think it was next shift that we scored. 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, and I thought that everyone did a great job of that today, and that's a big win for us."

Offense has been tough to come by for the Flyers, who had scored 11 goals in their first nine games, and Saturday was the first time they scored more than two.

Martone and Michkov also were the first Flyers forwards to have a multipoint game this season.

"I think I've said it all along, our team goes with the young guys and the steps that they take and are going to continue to take," Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim said. "It's obviously positive just to see that tonight, and hopefully it continues."

Michkov put the Flyers ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 18:33. Martone's shot from the left side went off Ullmark's left pad and Flyers forward Michael Bunting in front of the net to Michkov, who tapped the rebound behind Ullmark. The assist was Bunting's first point with the Flyers.

"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," Martone said. "I liked the show tonight. I think we're two very skilled players, and I think as time goes on and we kind of develop more chemistry, I think we can bring a lot to this team."

Ottawa pulled Ullmark for an extra attack with 2:27 remaining in the third period but failed to get a shot on goal. 

Trevor Zegras made it 3-1 with an empty-net goal at 19:46.

"I think we had a slow start out of the gate," Batherson said. "Obviously two penalty kills (in the first period) that we liked. I thought certain parts of the game in the second and third we were good. But give them credit, they were a desperate team that obviously needed a win bad. They deserve it."

NOTES: Chabot did not play in the third period because of an upper-body injury. Green did not have an update after the game. ... Giroux's assist gave him 1,171 points, passing Bobby Hull for 59th in NHL history. ... Ullmark lost for the first time in seven starts this season; his six-game win streak matched Ray Emery (2005-06) for the best in Senators history. He did allow two goals or fewer for the seventh straight game. ... Senators defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo had one shot on goal in 16:58 of ice time in his first game back after missing the previous two games because of a concussion. ... It was the Flyers' first win against the Senators in seven games, dating to Nov. 14, 2024. ... The only Flyer with a multipoint game entering Saturday was Sanheim, who had a goal and an assist against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 1. ... Michkov's goal was his 50th in the NHL. ... Philadelphia forward Owen Tippett missed the game because of an upper-body injury. He's considered day to day.