The Philadelphia Flyers play overtime hockey in what feels like every other game. After back-to-back shootouts in Anaheim and Los Angeles, Philadelphia has played 25 overtime games in 68 contests, with four in a row and three of them being shootouts. It’s not the sign of a bad team– the Minnesota Wild have the most in the NHL with 26– but it does make playing catch-up a lot more difficult, especially when giving other conference opponents the extra point. They’ve found themselves near the bottom of the league in regulation wins despite having the 15th most standings points in hockey. Has any team performed this way– and been successful?
The record for overtime games is in reach
The most overtime games ever played in a season belongs to the 2003-04 Boston Bruins with 30. This was before the shootout was around, but it’s well within reach and probably even likely to be broken this season. The Bruins, coached by Mike Sullivan, won their division and earned the second-seed in the Eastern Conference. With Calder Trophy winner Andrew Raycroft in goal, the Bruins blew a 3-1 series lead in the first round, losing to Montreal at home in game seven.
The second most overtime games in history was also that season: the Brian Boucher-led Phoenix Coyotes, who suffered a much different fate than Boston. The Coyotes played 29 games past regulation, winning just five, and tying a record 18 times. The current Flyers color-commentator set an NHL record shutout-streak, but they finished at the bottom of their division anyway.
In the shootout era, which feels like the most relevant data, the record belongs to the 2016-17 Detroit Red Wings, matching Phoenix’s 29. The Red Wings missed the playoffs as well, gathering just 79 points and finishing with 24 regulation-plus-overtime wins, only outpacing the 60-loss Colorado Avalanche. Detroit was undefeated in the shootout, however, winning all nine of them, as well as 16 total after regulation. This feels most comparable to the current Flyers, who sit at 10-1 in the skills competition, and remain on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
The next overtime game the Flyers play will match the second most in their team’s history– the 2014-15 Flyers had 26– and the 27th will tie the franchise record set just a year later. It seems a foregone conclusion at this rate that we’ll be congratulating them for playing the most hockey any Flyers team has ever played in the regular season. Consequently, only those 2015-16 Flyers made the playoffs, losing to Washington in the first round. With 14 more games to play, and the games getting tighter, the race for 30 is on.
Is this year different with shootout success?
Historically, the Flyers have been awful in the shootout. The 2013-14 Capitals played the most shootouts in NHL history with 21, missing the playoffs despite Alex Ovechkin winning the Rocket Richard trophy for leading the NHL in goals. He went a shocking 2-for-16 in the shootout. It seems completely random, as the best goal-scorer the league has ever seen apparently is unable to do it.
With Trevor Zegras in the fold, Philadelphia is not letting those opportunities go to waste. Zegras is one of the best shooters by percentage since the inception of the event in 2005, at just over 60 percent (20-for-33) for his career. As a Flyer, he’s 7-for-12, and they’ve needed every one of those seven on their way to an NHL-high nine shootout victories on the season. He’s got five game-deciding-goals in the shootout, and is comfortably the best Flyer to ever do it. Matvei Michkov is looking like another of the best Flyers at 36.8 percent lifetime. With 13 shootouts already, they’re pacing the league in that category, and the points count all the same; you might as well win once you get there.
Trevor Zegras is UNFAIR in the shootout 😮💨🙌 pic.twitter.com/qeZ6jWbRV7
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 20, 2026
Yet, the Pittsburgh Penguins are tied for the second most shootouts this year, and they’re a dreadful 1-10. This hasn’t kept them from competing for the second seed in the Metropolitan division, somehow, and they lead the Eastern Conference overall with 16 overtime loss points, tied with the Los Angeles Kings out west. The 2009-10 Capitals lost 13 times past regulation and won the President’s Trophy. The 2013-14 New Jersey Devils, who missed the playoffs after going an impossible 0-13 in the shootout, aren’t happy with these results.
There is history of great teams playing a ton of shootouts, too. The 2011-12 Devils went to the Cup Final after going 12-4, and the President’s Trophy Vancouver Canucks that season played 15 shootouts, but still lost in the first round. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation between teams that “rely” on the shootout like the Flyers seem to do. The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars each have ten overtime losses on the season, without much shootout success to speak of, and they’re the top-two seeds in the NHL. Being “good” at the shootout is simply a nice luxury to steal some extra points in the standings, and not much else. The Flyers will take the points any way they can get them at this stage.
