Wrap: Flyers Defeat Sens in OT, 4-3
The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Ottawa Senators in overtime, 4-3, at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening. Travis Sanheim, (2nd goal of the season) scored the winner at 2:35 of OT off a 2-on-0 pass from Cam Atkinson.
With the win, the Flyers extended their point streak to five straight games (4-0-1).
Early in the first period, Claude Giroux (11th goal of the season) scored from point blank range to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 4:19. The point tied the Flyers captain with Bill Barber for 2nd on the Flyers' franchise all-time scoring leaderboard (883 points).
Oskar Lindblom (3rd) made it 2-0 at 7:32. The Flyers took the two-goal lead to the first intermission.
Ottawa needed only 3:22 into the second period to tie the game. Goals by Tim Stützle (5th) and Alex Formenton (SHG, 6th) made it a 2-2 game. The game entered the third period deadlocked.
In the third period, Artem Zub (2nd) gave Ottawa short-lived lead at 13:43. Joel Farabee (8th) got the goal right back at 14:35.
Martin Jones earned the win in net for the Flyers. He stopped 28 of 31 shots. Anton Forsberg absorbed the OT loss for Ottawa, stopping 34 of 38 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and yielded a shorthanded goal. Philadelphia was 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
For an in-depth analysis, highlights and stats from the game, see the Postgame 5 on the Flyers' official website.
**********
Wrap: Phantoms Lose to Amerks in Shootout, 4-3
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms saw a three-game winning streak come to an end but extended their point streak to four straight games (3-0-1) after a 4-3 (2-1) shootout loss to the Rochester Americans at the PPL Center in Allentown on Saturday evening.
The Phantoms held a 2-1 lead heading into the final four minutes of the third period but a pair of Rochester goals put Lehigh down, 3-2, with 1:20 remaining. At 19:10, Garrett Wilson (6th goal of the season forced overtime.
Earlier in the game, goals by Connor Bunnaman (3rd) built a 1-0 lead near the mid stages of the 1st period. Michael Mersch tied it at late in the second period with the first of two goals he scored in the game.
Tallying a goal for the second straight game, Maksim Sushko (4th) restored the lead for the Phantoms in the opening minute of the third period. That's where the score stayed until Mersch's second of the game (14th of the season) made it 2-2 at 16:37 and then Sean Malone (9th, with Mersch collecting an assist for his third point) put the Amerks ahead at 18:40. Wilson rescued a point for Lehigh Valley with the game-tying goal with 50 seconds left on the regulation clock.
Rochester outshot Lehigh Valley, 7-2, in the scoreless overtime. In the skills competition, the Amerks' Arttu Routsalainen and J.J. Peterka converted their shootout attempts. Gerry Mayhew converted his second-round attempt for the Phantoms but neither Matthew Strome nor defenseman Adam Clendening were able to beat veteran goalie Aaron Dell (27 saves on 30 shots in regulation and OT, 2-for-3 in the shootout).
Rookie goaltender Samuel Ersson, who was playing in his first game since suffering a groin injury back on Oct. 24, got the start in goal for the Phantoms with Felix Sandström on emergency recall to the Flyers.
The good but short-lived news: Ersson played very well over the first 40 minutes, stopping 21 of 22 shots. He had no chance on the one goal; a back-door slam-dunk. The bad, more concerning news: He had to leave the game after the second period.
Pat Nagle went the rest of the way in relief for the Phantoms. The veteran minor leaguer stopped eight of 10 shots in 25 minutes played. He was 0-for-2 in the shootout.