Flyers struggle again, Tocchet has no answers in franchise-record 7th straight loss to open season

Tyson Foerster slid headfirst on the ice chasing a puck in a scoreless game and got tangled with Carolina's Jordan Martinook.

Martinook did to Forester what the Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes and the rest of the NHL have done to the Flyers.

Used him as a punching bag.

Bam! One shot to the left side of Foerster's face. Wham! A second shot to the left side of Foerster's face.

Foerster had little fight and neither did the Flyers.

The Hurricanes scored only moments later — oh, there was no penalty called on the blows to the head — and went on Sunday night to beat the Flyers 4-1.

The winless Flyers.

After teasing Flyers fans last season that perhaps a rebuild was yielding a promising future after they won their first playoff series since 2020, coach Rick Tocchet's team is 0-5-2 and the only winless team in the Eastern Conference.

In the waning moments of the loss, pockets of fans that stuck around for another anemic loss chanted “Fire Tocchet! Fire Tocchet!” The rest, they simply booed the team off the ice.

“I think we go off the rails at certain points of the game,” Tocchet said. “I don't know if it's experience, pressure, I don't know.”

The Flyers weren't quite ready this season — especially after Anaheim matched Philadelphia's five-year, $90 million offer sheet to Leo Carlsson — to move into the Stanely Cup conversation.

But play this poorly?

Flyers general manager told reporters over the weekend in Boston that “it's not the time to panic because of a bad stretch.”

It's getting close.

The Flyers were crushed by Pittsburgh 7-0 on opening night and have been outscored 28-8 this season en route to the worst start in franchise history. The Flyers had twice before in 1999-00 and 2008-09 gone six straight winless games to open a season. Both of those teams rebounded to make the playoffs.

Since taking a 3-0 series lead in the opening round of the playoffs against Pittsburgh, the Flyers have lost 13 of 14 games — including a 4-0 sweep in the second round to the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes' social media team even rubbed it in the Flyers' faces with a post Sunday night that read, “We've won more games in Philly in the last nine days than the Flyers, Eagles, and Phillies combined this month.”

“There's still a lot of hockey left,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “Of course, if we don't figure this out soon, we'll be chasing and it's going to be too late. But yeah, there's no quitting.”

The Flyers are playing undermanned with forward Travis Konecny, defenseman Cam York, and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen out with injuries. Even with all three healthy, the Flyers aren't suddenly going to turn the season around.

“We can't skill our way out of this one,” Couturier said. “We have a lot of talent, but we can't skill ourselves out of it. We're going to have to work and grind and it starts the next practice. We better figure it out.”

The Flyers signed forward Trevor Zegras to a four-year, $36.5 million extension after he had a career-high 26 goals and 67 points last season, the second-most on the team. He's been perhaps the biggest disappointment this season with just two points and no goals.

“What happened last year was pretty cool, and maybe you feel like it’s just going to keep happening, and you’ve made it,” Briere said in Boston. “But the reality is we’re a team that needs to have everybody working in the same direction. The way we’re built, the full team is important to have everybody. We don’t have a superstar that’s going to come out and score four or five goals in a game to win a game by himself."

Something has to change, and fast. The effort, the execution, the power play — maybe even the coach if Tocchet can't find the solutions.

Zegras said Sunday night the Flyers were “fully behind” Tocchet, who played parts of 11 seasons across two stints with the franchise and became one of their most beloved and gritty figures. That goodwill could be diminished as the losses pile up and the Flyers show little spirit in the blowout losses.

They have four losses by three or more goals.

“You start thinking about the long term, then you're really going to be in trouble,” Tocchet said. “You've got to try to win. How you win the next game.”

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Philadelphia Flyers' Trevor Zegras, right, and Carolina Hurricanes' Jalen Chatfield collide during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers' Denver Barkey (86) and Carolina Hurricanes' Mike Reilly (6) collide during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Flyers right wing Porter Martone (94) celebrates after his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Philadelphia Flyers' Rick Tocchet coaches during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Martinook, left, punches Philadelphia Flyers' Tyson Foerster during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

President Donald Trump must cancel any remaining television commercials paid for with millions of dollars in taxpayer money to promote his political message, a federal judge ordered Sunday night, even as the administration said the ad campaign was coming to an end.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon in New York sided with a coalition, including the nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause, that challenged the ads as an illegal misuse of funds. She told the administration to cancel any remaining ads, including any set to air Sunday night, in granting a temporary restraining order.

“Defendants shall not enter into, renew, or expand any agreement authorizing the development, creation, dissemination, placement, or airing of the challenged advertisements” during the two-week duration of her order, the judge said.

Asked for comment, the White House referred to an Oct. 5 social media post from Trump in which he defended the taxpayer-funded ads as “rather standard” but, amid backlash, said he would pay for them from his political fundraising. In a court filing late Saturday, the Justice Department argued that the temporary restraining order was unnecessary because “the alleged offending conduct will end tomorrow.”

The Department of Homeland Security tapped $20 million in taxpayer money for the ads. Legal experts have suggested that violated a federal statute against congressionally appropriated money being used for “publicity or propaganda” and potentially other laws.

“We are pleased the court acted swiftly to prevent more taxpayer dollars from being used for such blatantly unlawful political propaganda,” the plaintiffs said in a statement issued by Democracy Forward, the nonprofit legal organization that represents them. “There is no legal justification — and no precedent — for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda.”

In a court declaration Saturday, senior DHS official Holly Mehringer wrote that the money came from funds appropriated by Congress that are “available for, among other things, ‘commemorating efforts and events related to border security.’”

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements akin to what past administrations have done to promote various policies. But the recent ads differ from many past public service announcements because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.

The ads, which began airing in late September, glorify Trump and echo his political messaging going into the midterms. One features a clip of Trump talking about the threat of communism and another is a replay of an ad from his last presidential campaign. The fifth ad in the campaign began airing Tuesday, focusing on the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

The use of public funds to pay for the ads drew heavy criticism — including from some in the GOP.

"It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters.

The Democratic National Committee has separately sued the Republican administration over the ads.

Amid the backlash, Trump said he would start paying for the ads with a campaign account. A White House official said there were no immediate plans to reimburse the government for money already spent.

Associated Press reporters Collin Binkley and Ali Swenson contributed.

President Donald Trump returns to the White House following a trip to Clarksville, Tenn., on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)