The Daily Sports Page

DETROIT — Andrew Copp ended a tense, low-scoring affair with a hard, point-blank finish 4:38 into the final frame, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 victory and piling more misery on the Philadelphia Flyers, who have now opened the season 0-6-3. The loss marks the Flyers’ franchise-record ninth straight defeat to start a campaign and leaves them mired in one of the worst early-season skids in recent NHL history.

The scoring began late in the first period when Matvei Michkov used a baseball-style swing to bat a bouncing puck past Daniil Tarasov with 2:28 remaining in the stanza. Detroit answered in the second when Dylan Larkin sliced across the slot on a 2-on-1 and found Anton Johansson, who snapped home his first NHL goal at 4:31 of the middle period. Johansson becomes the third Scandinavian rookie to net his first career marker for Detroit this season, joining Swede William Wallinder and Norwegian Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.

Copp’s go-ahead goal proved decisive despite a frantic finish from the Flyers. Philadelphia had one last chance after pulling their goalie, but Oliver Bonk’s shot from about 10 feet rimmed wide with eight seconds left, and Detroit held on. Goaltending played a prominent role: Tarasov stopped 17 shots for the Red Wings while Joseph Woll turned aside 24 for Philadelphia.

The skid drops the Flyers to 0-6-3 and is tied for the ninth-longest start to a season in NHL history; it is the worst opening stretch since San Jose went 0-7-2 in 2024-25. Only three teams have gone winless through their first 10 games, and the record for futility to open a season belongs to the 1943-44 New York Rangers, who began 0-14-1. Detroit and Philadelphia both turn around quickly — the Red Wings host San Jose on Saturday night, and the Flyers return home to face Ottawa that same evening.