WRAP: Flyers Claim One Point, Fall 5-4 to Pens in OT
The final game of the 2017-18 series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins went in similar fashion to previous meetings. For the third time this season, the Flyers held and then lost a lead to the Penguins. For the fourth time, the Penguins scored five goals on Philly. For the second time, Pittsburgh won in overtime, 5-4.
Although the Flyers came away with one point on a day where they needed a win, it was still an encouraging performance overall. On the brink of a regulation loss, the Flyers rallied late to force overtime on a Sean Couturier rebound goal. Philly outshot the Penguins by a 45-32 margin, and got a career-best three-point game from Jordan Weal.
Unfortunately, the Flyers fell three points behind Pittsburgh in the battle for second place in the Metro Division and remains behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for third place via goal differential tiebreaker. Nevertheless, the point gained by Philly was a very valuable one, and the team has collected eight of 10 possible points from the last five games (3-0-2 record).
Travis Sanheim (2nd goal of the season), Brandon Manning (7th), Weal (power play, 8th) and Couturier (6-on-5, 31st) scored for the Flyers. Weal also collected his 11th and 12th assists of the season, and Shayne Gostisbehere posted his 43rd and 44th. Wayne Simmonds (21st assist), Valtteri Filppula (22nd), Oskar Lindblom (2nd) and Claude Giroux (NHL-leading 65th) had one helper apiece.
Derrick Brassard (21st goal of the season), Patric Hörnqvist (power play, 24th), Evgeni Malkin (42nd), Sidney Crosby (26th) and Brian Rust (overtime, 13th) scored for the Penguins. Justin Schultz (17th, 18th and 19th) had three assists, Phil Kessel (54th and 55th) had two assists, and each of Connor Sheary (12th), Brian Dumoulin (11th), Jake Guentzel (25th) and Kris Letang (39th) had one apiece.
Alex Lyon got the start in goal for the Flyers but lasted just 22:37 as the Penguins quickly turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead early in the second period. Lyon stopped eight of 11 shots before giving way to Petr Mrazek (19 saves on 21 shots). Matt Murray went the distance for the Penguins, coming up with 41 saves on 45 shots to earn the win.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play, and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the first period. Weal passed to a trailing Sanheim, who skated into the deep slot and fired off a rising shot under the crossbar. The Penguins answered at 9:38 as Brassard gained a partial breakaway and beat Lyon with a wrist shot to tie the game.
Philly established a 2-1 lead at 11:07. Manning took a pass from Weal. From the bottom of the left circle, Manning blasted a shot that beat Murray to the glove side. Although Manning got all of it and the shot was a tracer, Murray saw it all the way and probably should have stopped it.
The Flyers survived a Couturier hooking penalty late in the opening period. However, shortly after it expired, Jakub Voracek took an awful cross-checking penalty that put the Flyers right back on the PK and carried over into the second period. First period shots were 14-6 in the Flyers' favor.
Pittsburgh scored on the carryover power play just 37 seconds into the second period. After taking a pass from Kessel, Hörnqvist stepped out a stride from the left post and beat Lyon low to the long side. Despite being a power play goal, this one was a misplay by Lyon.
The Penguins grabbed a 3-2 lead at 2:37 of the second period on a delayed penalty against the Flyers. From the deep slot over the middle, Malkin faked a slap shot and then wristed a shot that found its way into the net through an Andrew MacDonald screen. Out came Lyon, in came Mrazek.
Philly's second power play unit got the game squared at 3-3 at the 17:10 mark with Dumoulin in the box for cross checking. Lindblom sent the puck out to the point for a shot by Gostisbehere. Murray made the initial save but Weal immediately put in the rebound.
Second period shots were 18-14 in the Flyers' favor (32-20 Flyers overall).
As they did in the second period, the Penguins scored quickly in the third period. At the 17-second mark, Crosby weaved his way into the left circle. From near the dot, he wristed a shot that beat Mrazek to the long side for a 4-3 Penguins' lead.
Despite the incessant fawning of television commentator Pierre McGuire that the play was a "goal of the year candidate", it was a great initial effort by Crosby to outwork Couturier and Gostisbehere to find shooting space but the back half of the play was a case of Mrazek being off his angle on what otherwise looked like a fairly routine shot.
The Flyers were in severe jeopardy of suffering a regulation loss despite a heavy late push. However, with Mrazek pulled for a 6-on-5 attack, a Gostisbehere shot off a feed from Giroux rebounded directly to Couturier near the right post. Couturier quickly put the puck upstairs to forge a 4-4 tie and force overtime.
Third period shots were 13-8 Flyers (45-28 Flyers through regulation).
All four shots in OT were registered by Pittsburgh. Finally, after Mrazek got spun around making a stop on Rust in front of the blue paint, Rust re-directed home a puck threaded at the net by Crosby. Letang got the secondary assist on the winning goal at 2:25.
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SUNDAY PROSPECT PLAYOFF UPDATES
* OHL: Two goals by Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost within the opening seven minutes of the game staked the powerhouse Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to a quick 2-0 lead en route to an 8-0 blowout of the Saginaw Spirit. Frost, selected the game's first star, later added a power play assist to complete a three-point game. He finished with six shots on goal and was 7-for-15 on faceoffs (8-for-14 in Game One). With the Greyhounds leading the series two games to zero, the scene shifts to Saginaw on Monday.
* NCAA: Tanner Laczynski and the rest of the Ohio State Buckeyes are advancing to the Frozen Four after defeating Denver, 5-1, in the Midwest Regional Final at the PPL Center in Allentown on Sunday. Laczynski played a key role on the goal that established a commanding 3-0 lead in the third period. He knocked his check off the puck to start the play and then, at the other end, fed Matt Joyaux for a back-door goal.
* NCAA: Brendan Warren, former Flyers prospect Cooper Marody and the rest of the Michigan Wolverines earned a spot in the Frozen Four with a 6-3 win in the Northeast Regional Final in Worcester, MA on Sunday. Warren scored an early second period goal (9th of the season) to establish a 3-1 lead for Michigan. Marody had a power play assist in the first period.
* OHL: Matthew Strome assisted on the tying goal at 16:57 of the third period as the Hamilton Bulldogs rallied late to erase a 4-2 deficit against the Ottawa 67's. However, the 67's scored barely a minute later to re-take the lead for good and send the series back to Ottawa knotted at one game apiece. Strome had four shots on goal in Game Two. Game Three is on Tuesday.
* OHL: The Kitchener Rangers grabbed a two games to zero lead in their series with the Guelph Storm as Kitchener skated to a 2-1 win in Game Two on Sunday. Neither Kitchener's Connor Bunnaman (two shots, minus-one, 6-for-9 on faceoffs) nor Guelph's Isaac Ratcliffe (five shots on goal) got on the scoresheet for their respective teams. Game three is on Tuesday in Guelph.
* QMJHL: Pascal Laberge notched a goal and an assist on Sunday as the Quebec Remparts defeated the Charlottetown Islanders, 3-0, to take a two games to zero lead in the series. Game three is in Charlottetown on Wednesday.