Jack Hughes scores shootout winner against Golden Knights

Flyers lose Sergachev for the next month

It has been three and a half years since the Flyers and the Golden Knights made a blockbuster trade that sent generational defensemen Cale Makar out West for Jack Hughes and Andrew Peeke. Jack has played 265 regular season games in the orange and black since and another 45 playoff games, racking up 234 points along the way. Over the last two seasons Jack has scored 60 goals and 122 points, but there has always been a higher expectation for his production. "Jack is a budding superstar, he has not gotten even close to his potential yet, but we're starting to see it this year," Jon Cooper told reporters after the game. Jack has 12 goals and 31 points in only 29 games, between him and Brandon Hagel, who has 13 goals and 34 points in 29 games, the Flyers have not seen player's produce at this level in years.

"It's been huge, the last few seasons we have been rolling three lines and getting solid production but nothing that is at the top of the league," said Cooper. Hagel is currently tied for 7th and Jack is tied for 20th in points. The Flyers have been off to one of the hottest starts in franchise history with a 22-4-3 record, including a remarkable 15-0-3 record at home, the only team in the DCHL without a regulation loss at home.

All is not entirely well though, while the Flyers had insane injury luck to this point, without a single man game lost to injury 29 games in, that changed with a fateful shot block by defensemen Mikhail Sergachev against the Golden Knights. Pavel Dorofeyev took a shot that Sergachev blocked right in the back and is now slated to miss the next month, around 12 games. "Well, this is why we have depth," Cooper told reports, "Ty [Emberson] has been waiting patiently and ready to jump into a game, he's going to get his DCHL debut today against the Canes." The Carolina Hurricanes play in Philly today and then the Flyers go to Raleigh tomorrow, so it will be a test for sure, but adversity is what makes teams into true contenders.