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Wrap: Flyers Rally to Beat Habs in OT, 3-2

February 20, 2018, 11:00 PM ET [504 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS RALLY TO BEAT HABS IN OT, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers controlled play for much of the night but had to rally in the final 1:25 of play to force overtime before pulling out a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. The Flyers are 7-0-1 in their last eight games.

Tuesday night's game easily could have ended as a lament of a slew of scoring chances that were not finished off, but instead became an uplifting and crucial victory in the standings.The Flyers had 79 shot attempts to Montreal’s 55. Philly especially dominated play in the third period, but gave up a goal on a rare Montreal entry into their zone. That set the stage for the dramatic late-game comeback.

"I think it’s one of those nights where we had a lot of good scoring opportunities and weren’t able to cash in on them. It’s nice to get a bounce like that with a minute and a half to go to tie it up. Our goaltender played really well, I thought their guy was excellent," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.

"Like I said, it came right down to the wire and we had to keep pushing and stay with it, I thought the players did that. They stayed with it and found a way.”

Figuring in every Flyers goal on the night, Jakub Voracek scored the game-tying and game-winning goals (12th and 13th goals of the season) for Philadelphia. A Nolan Patrick tally (power play, 7th) at 7:18 of the second period erased a 1-0 deficit. Claude Giroux (50th assist), Voracek (55th assist), Sean Couturier (31st assist), Shayne Gostisbehere (36th and 37th assists) and Valtteri Filppula (17th assist) collected helpers.

Alex Lyon came up big when he needed to in earning the win in goal. The rookie stopped 25 of 27 Montreal shots.

"It’s cool to play against those guys. I don’t want to say growing up because I’m not that much younger than them, but you watch them and you try to model your game after them. Obviously, they are fantastic, but in the same breath you got to go out there and say I’m coming out here to be better then you today. Whether I was or not, that’s the approach you have to take. Otherwise you’re just going to beat yourself," Lyon said.

Jeff Petry (9th goal of the season) and Paul Byron (14th) scored for Montreal. Karl Alzner (9th assist of the season), Charles Hudon (14th assist), Tomas Plekanec (17th assist) and Brendan Gallagher (14th assist) chipped in assists in a losing cause. Winless in his last nine road games, Carey Price turned in a strong effort for Montreal but ended up only with an overtime loss to show for it. He stopped 30 of 33 shots.

Oskar Lindblom made his NHL debut and played a strong two-way game. He forechecked well, made some good defensive plays and had a couple scoring chances in one sequence although he finished the night without a point. Lindblom skated 15:11 across 18 shifts and had one shot on goal on four attempts. He played on a line with Scott Laughton (14:27 of ice time, four shots) and Michael Raffl (16:20 TOI).

"It felt good. The guys helped a lot, talked to me a lot, so that’s been a positive," Lindblom said.

Added linemate Laughton, “Oskar is a really smart player. First game looked really comfortable out there making plays. He is good along the boards and Raff’s really good. Both big bodies and just a really smart player. I said it this morning he really finds him and he knows how to get to the front of the net, create traffic and get to loose pucks. So I had a really fun time playing with him tonight and hopefully we can keep going forward.”

With Wayne Simmonds sidelined 2-3 weeks with an upper-body injury suffered in Sunday's game in New York, Patrick took his spot in front of the net on the Flyers' first power play unit. Lindblom skated on the second unit. The Flyers were dominant on their first two power plays, scoring on the first. Overall, they went 1-for-3.

For the first time in franchise history, the Flyers have gone three straight games without having to kill a penalty. Philadelphia became the second team in NHL history to accomplish the feat. The Calgary Flames did it in April 2015.

Top line right wing Travis Konecny was injured in the first period when he blocked a shot off his foot. He limped off to the dressing room but returned after missing one shift. Konecny finished the game, periodically being subbed for by Raffl or Jordan Weal on shifts (including in overtime by Weal). Konecny made some plays but was clearly struggling physically.

1ST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers quickly racked up the game's first four shots, including a Gostisbehere rush into the high slot. Gudas blocked a Byron Froese out of play at 5:25. Lyon made his first save, a bit shakily and way back in his net, on a Plekanec wraparound try at the right post by at 6:16. A TV timeout ensued.

Lyon made back-to-back saves on Jeff Petry from the right circle and Plekanec in front to keep the game scoreless. At the other end, Lindblom had his first two NHL scoring chances but was unable to find the target from in front of the net. He finished the shift with a hit on Jordie Benn.

Konecny limped up the tunnel after blocking a shot off his foot with about five minutes left in the period. He missed one shift before returning to the bench. He then took a short shift, and did not take his final shift of the period.

The Habs took a 1-0 lead at 17:47. Pinching all the way down to the slot, Petry tipped home an Alzner point shot. Hudon received the secondary assist.

First period shots were 10-8 in the Flyers' favor.

2ND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Konecny took the first shift of the period, per usual. Giroux beat out an icing on a long flip by Konecny. After Hab overskated a puck in the slot, Couturier claimed in near the right circle but couldn't finish it.

After Brandon Manning recovered on a rush by Montreal, Lindblom set up a chance for Laughton the other way but his shot was blocked. The Laughton line managed some forechecking pressure before Montreal cleared.

At 4:21, Lyon made a clean glove save on a blast from the deep center slot.

The Flyers got the game's first power play at 6:41 . Benn was called for a blatant offensive zone interference. Gostisbehere ripped a shot from the point that Price took off the mask. He went down heavily. Play was halted but Price got up on his own and stayed in the game. After play resumed, the Flyers tied the game on a great puck-moving sequence at 7:18.

Skating across the slot, Patrick took a tape-to-tape feed from Giroux. From point blank range, Patrick re-directed the puck upstairs. Voracek got the secondary assist. Gostisbehere started the whole sequence but did not receive a point.

With 11:23 left in the period, Manning dropped the gloves with Nicolas Deslauriers. Manning was dropped to a knee in a short and one-sided bout, but got right back up to continue the fight. Deslauriers just tauntingly skated away instead.

In a tough shift for him, Weal missed the net from prime shooting range near the left hash marks off a tape-to-tape feed from Voracek. He then turned the puck over after regaining it.

The Flyers went to their second power play at 10:35. Artturi Lehkonen went off for tripping. The Flyers generated lots of puck movement and offensive zone pressure but couldn't make connections to players set up in scoring range. Voracek hit the post on a shot through traffic late on the power play.

The Laughton line generated an excellent forechecking shift but a tip try by Raffl of a point shot went wide. At the other end, Gudas partially blocked a shot and Lyon covered it for a stoppage at 14:38.

Weal once again missed the net on a great scoring chance with 5:08 left in the period. He took a pass from Patrick in the slot and had room. The puck went out of play.

Lyon momentarily juggled but then held onto a Pacioretty blast from the left circle for his 18th save of the game and 11th of the period.

Filppula, stepping out to start a shift, trailed a play and had a great chance in front created by Giroux. It resulted only in another near-miss.

Lindblom provided good backchecking support to force a Montreal rush to miss connections. At the other end, a Laughton pass intended for Raffl going to the net was fired just out of the Austrian forward's reach.

Voracek and Giroux had a 2-on-0 down low and Voracek made one pass too many. Giroux ended up with too tight of a shooting angle and Price read the telegraphed play all the way.

Second period shots were 13-12 Montreal (22-21 Flyers overall).

3RD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

On the first shift, Provorov took a tape-to-tape pass from Giroux and skated in a long stride. Price calmly blockered it out of play.

Manning broke up a pass at the defensive blueline. The Habs went offside at 1:48.

The Flyers 4th line had a good forechecking shift and set up the Couturier line for a shift that started with a left circle faceoff in the offensive zone. The Habs defended well but ended up icing the puck at 4:06. The Patrick line came out next. With tired Habs players on the ice, the line pressured heavily but Price made a save on MacDonald and the Canadiens were finally able to get a clear.

Raffl took a shift for Konecny about 8 minutes into the period.

At 8:45, the Canadiens took a 2-1 lead. Manning lost a puck battle to Gallagher in the right circle. The puck was sent across, and Lyon committed himself to the ice on the left side. Plekanec then centered the puck to Byron in front, who outmaneuvered Gudas to tuck the puck into the net.

The Flyers' net came off its moorings at 9:59 after Konency and MacDonald hustled back and the puck was swep-checked away on a near breakaway.

Philly got its third power play at 10:37 as Phillip Danault was called for a defensive zone slash of Raffl's stick. Unlike the first two power plays, the top unit didn't get much going on this power play. The second unit had some late offensive zone possession time but no scoring chances.

After a Dale Weise turnover in the neutral zone, Jonathan Drouin hit the post on a 2-on-1 opportunity with a little over six minutes left.

With 2:50 left at a TV timeout, third period shots were 6-5 Montreal.

Couturier moved to his right from the boards, and fed across to Voracek high in the zone inside the right point. At 18:33, Voracek's seeing eye shot found the net through traffic to tie the game at 2-2. Couturier and Gostisbehere got the assists.

The top line pressured again in the final half minute. Price finally stopped a Gudas point shot with 10.8 seconds left. The game went to OT.

Third periods hots were 8-6 Flyers (30-27 Flyers through regulation).

OVERTIME SYNOPSIS

Weal took the opening shift with Couturier in lieu of the hobbling Konecny. With 4:24 left, Voracek was alone on the doorstep but flipped the puck over the net and out of play.

Giroux was robbed by Price one-on-one on a feed from Voracek.

Filppula made a strong defensive play to break up a Habs scoring chance and started a rush the other way. Gostisbehere fed Voracek, who rifled a shot home for his second goal of the game -- the victory for the Flyers -- at 1:26.

Overtime shots were 3-0 Flyers (33-27 Flyers overall).

STANDINGS IMPACT

The Flyers overtime win improved the team's record to 31-19-10 (72 points) through 60 games. The team also earned its 30th regulation or overtime win (ROW).

Meanwhile, the Flyers got some help on the out-of-town scoreboard. The New Jersey Devils, who entered the night tied in points with the Flyers but behind for third place in the Metro Division via ROW tiebreaker, lost 2-1 in regulation to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. As a result, the Flyers now hold a two-point edge on New Jersey and increased its ROW advantage to 30-27.

The Metro-leading Washington Capitals dropped a 4-2 verdict to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Flyers inched with three points of the Capitals. Philly also narrowed its ROW disadvantage to 31-30.

The second-place Pittsburgh Penguins were idle on Tuesday. The Flyers pulled back within two points of Pittsburgh. Philly holds one game in hand but the Pens have a 33-30 ROW edge, necessitating the Flyers to pass them in points to overtake the Pens in the standings.

By virtue of beating New Jersey on Tuesday, Columbus (60 GP, 65 PTS, 24 ROW) moved into the lower wildcard seed, one point ahead of idle Carolina (60 GP, 64 PTS, 24 ROW) and New York Islanders (61 GP, 64 PTS, 26 ROW).

The Flyers will practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Wednesday morning . On Thursday, they will host Columbus at the Wells Fargo Center. New Jersey hosts the Minnesota Wild, who are battling for the lower wildcard seed in the Western Conference. The Penguins do not play again until they visit Carolina on Friday. The Capitals are on the road against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
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