The Flyers made embarrassing NHL history with loss to the winless Sharks

If you’re a Philadelphia Flyers fan, this should be a familiar feeling.

On Tuesday, the Flyers lost 2-1 to the winless San Jose Sharks, breaking a 17-game losing streak dating back to last season. While bettors were surprised by the outcome — which gave the Sharks their first win of the season after back-to-back games allowing 10 goals — embarrassing themselves is nothing new for the Flyers.

Since Philadelphia bowed out of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, the last decade-plus of Flyers hockey has been dotted with humiliating moments. Between big losses and incompetent front office management to trading for noted bigot Tony DeAngelo and allowing Ivan Provorov to decline wearing a Pride Jersey during warmups, the Flyers haven’t given fans a lot to feel good about in recent years.

And now, the Flyers will be immortalized in the NHL record books for their mortifying loss to the Sharks. With Tuesday’s defeat, the Flyers have now become the only team in NHL history to lose twice to a team that went winless in 10-plus games to begin a season. The first time the Flyers lost to a winless team? The 2017-18 season, where they lost to the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 in overtime to give the team its first win of the season.

2017-18: Flyers lose to 0-10-1 Coyotes
2023-24: Flyers lose to 0-10-1 Sharks

They're the only team in NHL history to lose twice to a team that was winless in 10+ games on the season.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) November 8, 2023

It’s rough to allow that to happen once, but twice? That’s Flyers hockey, baby!

The Flyers also are used to helping other teams snap long losing streaks, as Philadelphia helped the Buffalo Sabres break their 18-game winless streak back in 2021.

Every losing streak over 15 games in the cap era:

18 games — Buffalo Sabres (2021)
17 games — San Jose Sharks (2023)

Both teams won their game against the Philadelphia Flyers. pic.twitter.com/nAFH6xxQSj

— Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) November 8, 2023

This new low should not come as a surprise for Flyers fans. Anyone expecting the Flyers to pull out a victory against the winless Sharks hasn’t been paying attention to this team’s embarrassing track record over the last decade.