The Philadelpha Flyers played two strong periods against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday evening. On merit, Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead to the second intermission.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, they succumbed to a third-period rally by Vegas. The Golden Knights skated off with a 3-2 win in regulation.
After trailing 1-0 early on an Ivan Barbashev tally, the Flyers pushed back to take a 2-1 lead to the first intermission on tallies by Noah Cates (1st of the season) and Cam Atkinson (4th). The lead held until Paul Cotter turned Flyers rookie defenseman Egor Zamula inside out and knotted the score at 2-2 in the middle stages of the third period.
The Flyers had at least one point well in sight as the clock ticked down in the final minute. Disaster struck when Cam York attempted to beat two Vegas players as he stickhandled on a defensive zone exit. At 19:27, Shea Theodore scored on a screened Carter Hart for what proved to be the winning goal for the Golden Knights.
Hart, who was once again sharp in net, deserved a better fate. Hart stopped 25 of 28 shots in a losing cause. He was ultimately unable to stifle Vegas' third-period onslaught. Logan Thompson shook off the mistake on the Atlkinson goal to deny 26 of 28 shots.
For an in-depth period-by-period recap, analysis and highlights, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
The return will not practice on Wednesday. On Thursday, they will host the Minnesota Wild at the Wells Fargo Center.
Flyers played very well for first 35 mins last night. Late 2nd pd and 3rd saw Vegas surge. A couple fatal miscues in 3rd.
— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) October 25, 2023
PHI had good scoring chance distribution but not many high-danger chances. Atkinson goal was a gift but Tippett made a great pass on sequence. pic.twitter.com/Jx9PjSv6mR