It may’ve been American Thanksgiving, but the Flyers didn’t get to be home for it: all four of their games last week were on the road, with two in Florida, one on Long Island, and one in New Jersey. They finished the week 3-1-0 against three teams with Stanley Cup aspirations and a plucky rebuilding squad, which is a successful road trip any way you slice it.
That first shutout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning aside, the Flyers managed to win every which way. They hung tough against the reigning champion Florida Panthers, wearing them down in a grueling third period; they squandered a three-goal lead (again!) but won in the shootout (again!) against the New York Islanders; finally, they marched into the New Jersey Devils’ barn and handed them their first regulation loss at home of the season.
The most promising thing about these wins is who’s been stepping up. While the Flyers continue to have strong depth, they’ve missed their top-of-the-lineup players contributing in a meaningful fashion; last week, the stars starred, and two of them make our list today. Deserving a shoutout, we do want to give Owen Tippett an honorable mention this week for scoring his 100th (and 101st!) NHL goal.
3. Travis Konecny
0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, 4 games played, 18:22 Average Time On Ice (ATOI)
While his box scores don’t look that impressive, there are two caveats: first, Konecny had originally been awarded a goal against the Devils, before it was given to Matvei Michkov. Second, Konecny scored in the shootout against the Islanders to seal the game.
Grip it and rip it. 🎯#PHIvsNYI | @fwwebb pic.twitter.com/m1KwIKsdWL
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 28, 2025
It’s been a rough season for Konecny. The scoring has been mostly there, but he hasn’t looked all that good doing it. That wasn’t at all the case in Saturday’s dance with the Devils, where he looked like the player we’ve come to know and love the last couple of seasons. Konecny was everywhere, and it’s the game he scored his two points of the week in; it’s the kind of performance that has been missing most of the season.
Maybe there were other more deserving candidates for the third star (Tippett, or Trevor Zegras), but it’s just so good to see Konecny starting to look like himself again that he’s earned some of the spotlight this week. For a return to form, Konecny gets the third star.
2. Matvei Michkov
3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points, 4 games played, 14:59 ATOI
Much like Konecny, this week saw Michkov look like the best version of himself–the player we saw a lot during the 2024-25 season. He scored at a point-per-game rate, made a couple nice defensive plays (including a sweet stick lift and takeaway late in Saturday’s game against the Devils), and got himself a greasy goal coming out of the penalty box.
Thinking outside the box. #PHIvsNJD | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/yVn5qT0tpZ
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 30, 2025
The one blemish on Michkov’s otherwise strong week was an ill-advised penalty late in the matchup against the Islanders. The Flyers, thankfully, killed it off and got the game past regulation to win in the shootout, but a little discipline would go a long way.
Still, if you’re scoring goals, you can accept some unruly play. It certainly helps that Michkov’s goals were greasy, net front opportunities and a pretty deflection–both types of scoring this team’s struggled with before–and for that, he gets second star. More of this please, Matvei!
</scriptBANG-BANG. #PHIvsFLA | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/9ODD6PauFR
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 27, 2025
1. Dan Vladar
2 wins, .915 save percentage, 5 goals against, 2 games played
Are you sick of us choosing Dan Vladar as first star yet? You’ll find no apologies here–Vladar deserves it and more this week. He won both his starts and has strung together four victories in a row, with a darn good save percentage to boot.
Oh, and he does stuff like this.
Vladdy put on a CLINIC. #PHIvsNJD | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/r7nvKl9LHp
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 30, 2025
It’s so nice to have a goaltender in net that you just expect to make saves (heck, The Athletic ranks the Flyers’ tandem 19th best in the league–hard to believe after last year’s disaster!). This sequence late in the first period of the Devils game, in a way, set up Michkov’s goal as he exited the penalty box. If Nico Hischier had scored, Michkov wouldn’t have been in the box to start the second period. While that Timo Meier shot was after the buzzer and won’t count as a save, it was still impressive that Vladar got across the crease to make it. He was clearly feeling it that game.
While Vladar’s work against the Devils was more flashy, we can’t discount his performance against a championship-caliber roster in the Panthers earlier in the week. He finished that game with a .926 save percentage, doing what we’ve come to expect from him this season: steady in net, making the saves he needs to, and keeping the team in it against a superior opponent until their offense could break through in the form of a Tyson Foerster snipe.
We’re a quarter of the way through the season, and it’s borderline impossible to imagine this roster without Vladar on it. Credit to Danny Briere for signing him over the summer, and to Kim Dillabaugh for recognizing the potential. Until Vladar gives us reason to believe otherwise, he’ll keep getting his flowers in these weekly articles; this week, it happens to be the first star.
