A desperate comeback push in the final minute of the third period netted two goals and stole a point in the standings for the Philadelphia Flyers but the team ultimately fell in overtime, 4-3, to the Arizona Coyotes at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night. The Coyotes, who entered the game as the last winless team (0-10-1) in the NHL, avoided setting a new NHL record for the longest losing streak to start a season. The Flyers dropped to 6-5-1.
Veteran defenseman Alex Gologoski (1st goal of the season) netted the game-winner at 4:45 of overtime on a 3-on-2 counterattack off a Travis Sanheim turnover. Arizona built a 3-0 lead on goals by Jordan Martinook (1st), Christian Dvorak (1st) and Brendan Perlini (power play, 2nd) before the Flyers pushed back against a team that entered the game having been outscored by a 19-7 margin in third periods.
Sean Couturier scored a pair of goals (power play and the game-tier on 6-on-5, 8th and 9th of the season) for the Flyers, sandwiched around a Jordan Weal (2nd) goal at 6-on-5 to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 56.9 seconds left. Ivan Provorov (28:07 of ice time, five hits, one block) assisted on all three Flyers goals and made two vital and difficult keeps at the offensive blueline in the sequence that led to the tying goal.
The comeback marked only the second occasion in franchise history that the Flyers have scored two goals in the final minute of regulation to tie a game. The one previous time was on February 3, 1980 when the Flyers were trailing Boston 3-1 and received goals from Reggie Leach at 19:11 and Rick MacLeish at 19:44 to tie the game, which ended in a 3-3 tie.
Brian Elliott, who had been excellent in the Flyers' win in Toronto on Saturday, was so-so in this game but came up with 30 saves on 34 shots. On the one hand, he had some puck tracking issues and the Perlini power play goal was on a shot he should have been able to stop. On the other, there were a few junctures were the game was in the verge of slipping out of reach where he came up with timely stops.
Acquired from the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Scott Wedgewood earned the win in his first start as a Coyote. He stopped 28 of 31 shots.
Mark Alt, a midday callup on Monday when Sunday callup Samuel Morin (who did not participate in the morning skate due to a nagging injury that worsened over the weekend) was unable to play, made his second career regular season appearance for the Flyers. His NHL debut came back on March 28, 2015.
"It was going to be an adjustment for sure. At the same time, you want to come in ready to go and try to eliminate as many of those hiccups you can. Just kind of keep our own," Alt said.
Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said that Alt (16:54 TOI, two shots, one block) did fine, especially under the circumstances.
"I thought he gave us exactly what we hoped he would on his first game. He was solid and he skates well. He is in good position. He moved the puck up ice and gave us a solid night," Hakstol said.
Sanheim logged 23:41 of ice time across 28 shifts. He settled in after being part of a communication breakdown with Alt on the first goal and was playing well thereafter until his mistake in overtime eventually ended up in the Flyers net. He finished at minus-two (plus-one, minus-three) on the night.
The first period of the game was horrific from a Flyers standpoint. The team got better as the second period progressed and then dominated the third period. A crucial penalty kill, with Jakub Voracek in the box for an initially unpenalized high-sticking double minor (the Flyers originally seemed to be going on a power play), created some momentum for the late push. Voracek took a return trip to the box on an OT hooking penalty.
"it was the right call let’s be honest about that. I’m more upset about the call [against me] in the overtime," Voracek said.
"In my opinion, you cannot call that. Standing in a far corner he can’t even see what’s going on and then call that, and then you miss the call if interference in overtime there and you know them scoring, but you can’t point to that. We didn’t deserve to win today, it’s simple as that."
The Coyotes played a 1-2-2 neutral zone trap. They bottled things up over the middle and made aggressive challenges before Philly could gain the defensive blueline. Couturier and Voracek felt it took some time to adjust, while Weal said it was something that was discussed before the game.
"They were pretty aggressive at their blue line, their D stepping up, I mean playing against a team like that, I don’t think we’ve seen that to step up as much as they were tonight," Couturier said. "But we gotta be stronger around pucks, make plays, make better decisions at those blue lines and sometimes simplify it.…
Added Voracek, "I think they owned the middle pretty well. We were trying to push everything through the middle. It didn’t work, but in the third period we kind of kept it more simple, put it up high to the D and tried to get something simple going from up top and I think it started working, we tied the game, got a point out of it, but we didn’t deserve that second one today, that’s for sure."
Hakstol disagreed with Couturier and Voracek's assessment of the Flyers attackers seeing much of anything they hadn't previously seen this season from other trapping teams. He agreed that the Flyers' attack improved one they finally simplified things.
“I don’t think they did a whole lot different in their system. They run a 1-2-2 system in the neutral zone. In the offensive zone, they clog things up. You've got to go north. You've got to play fast north hockey and get in on the forecheck and we didn’t do that enough in this hockey game," Hakstol said.
Whatever the case, the Flyers did not come out ready to match Arizona's urgency and lost far too many battles throughout the first period in particular.
"When you start in your own building... that is on us. Coming back and the push we played a reasonably good second period. We played a pretty good third and had a great push and play making to tie the game up but you have to rewind back to the start of the game in our own building. There are certain things that we want to establish, and we need to establish in our own building and we didn’t do that tonight," Hakstol said.
Martinook scored a back-door goal to give Arizona a 1-0 lead at 2:20 on the game's second shot. He beat Elliott off his pad and then inside the near-side post off a pass from Niklas Hjalmarsson following an initial long rebound of a Brad Richardson shot. Alt was caught out of position on the play, lined up behind Sanheim, while Jori Lehterठended up in no man's land along the boards and Elliott's pad was inside the net as he slid laterally. The sequence started with Sanheim looking for a line change but having to stay on the ice.
"I think we just had a lack of communication there. There was a change. We both kind of got stuck on the same guy and missed a guy," Alt said.
The Coyotes took a 2-0 lead at 7:46. Ekman-Larsson directed the puck at the net and it hit Dvorak in the skate. Dvorak then wristed a 20-foot shot past Elliott on the game's fourth shot. Jason Demers received the secondary assist.
Max Domi (missed the net) and Demers both had open cracks in good shooting range. Elliott denied the latter one and held for a stoppage with 8:09 left in the first period. After a bad pass in the offensive zone, the Coyotes had a momentary 3-on-1 chance but did not score with 4:30 remaining.
The continued Flyerrs poor puck decisions, easy exits for Arizona and a point-blank chance for Derek Stepan in the final half minute marked the remainder of the first period. Shots were 13-3 in Arizona's favor. All three Flyers shots on net were registered by defensemen (two for Brandon Manning and one for Ivan Provorov).
At 2:38 of the 2nd period, a routine right point shot by Alt was the Flyers' fourth shot of the game. Finally after a center-ice turnover by Luke Schenn forced by Voracek, Giroux had a shot off the rush at 3:40. Elliott stopped a right circle one-time by Domi at 5:05 to keep the Flyers within two goals.
Provorov had a good rush up the ice with support and, eventually Simmonds worked the puck to Weal near the net. Wedgewood made his eighth save of the game.
Brendan Perlini had half an open net but could not finish a 2-on-1 rush after Manning fished for a puck at the point and couldn't get it. After the whistle in the Flyers' zone, the game's first scrum broke out. Couturier and Dvorak received roughing penalties to set up 4-on-4 play at 12:18 of the second period.
The Flyers made a line change to put Konecny with Simmonds and Filppula in the latter stages of the period.
Sanheim made a good lead pass to Konecny for a rare Flyers rush with speed through the neutral zone but Wedgewood stopped a Sanheim shot for his 10th save of the game and the rebound attempt bounced around in front before being covered. On the next shift, a Voracek wristed one on net and then generated a deflection of a Manning shot went just wide.
The game's first power play went to the Coyotes on a (marginal) cross-checking call against Simmonds with 4.4 seconds left in the second period. Shots were 10-9 in the Flyers' favor (22-13 overall for Arizona). Giroux jawed with the officials after the horn.
The Coyotes took the 1:55 carryover power play into the third period. They scored. From the right half boards, Perlini wristed a puck that found the short side for a 3-0 lead at 1:33. The assists went to Alex Goligoski and Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Philly got its first power play on a Richardson hooking penalty at 1:46, and quickly cashed it as Couturier scored from the left hash marks on a quick snap shot off a Giroux feed at 2:13. Provorov got the secondary assist on Couturier's 8th goal of the season to cut the gap to 3-1.
Voracek tried a backhanded wraparound on a power move around the net. Wedgewood covered at 4:20. Simmonds set up a screen on a Gudas shot after a D-to-D pass from Sanheim at 4:54.
Voracek had a chance on a scramble around the net and then Couturier shoveled a pass out to the point for Provorov. Wedgewood saw the shot all the way and made the save. Pushing at shoving ensued after the whistle. Luke Schenn got a roughing penalty out of it while Voracek got a high-sticking double minor (an initial infraction called way after the fact during a TV timeout) at 10:15. Highlighted by some outstanding work by Taylor Leier, the Flyers killed the penalty.
The Coyotes, playing without an injured Hjalmarsson (who left the game earlier and did not return) took an unforced icing with 6:42 left. Giroux won the draw and the Flyers generated pressure at the net but couldn't score.
With 5:57 left, Manning was sliding backward over the bench when a flipped puck headed straight at him. He dangerously tumbled backwards, but seemed OK afterwards.
The Flyers pulled Elliott for an extra attacker. Weal potted a loose rebound of a Provorov shot near the left post with 52.6 seconds left to make a 3-2 game. Filppula got the secondary assist.
With Elliott off and the team continuing at 6-on-5, Provorov made a good keep at the left point. From the left circle, Giroux put the puck at the net and Couturier tipped it home at 19:45. Assists went to Giroux and Provorov on Couturier's second goal of the game.
“Provy just made a nice play at the blue line keeping it in and I was around him trying to give him some time and just went to the net, my stick on the ice. I knew G would throw it somewhere around the net and I just redirected it in the net," Couturier said. Shots in the third period were 17-7 in the Flyers' favor (30-29 Flyers through regulation).
Voracek was called for a hooking penalty at 32 seconds of OT. Arizona went to a 4-on-3 power play. The Flyers killed it off with four saves by Elliott. With 14.4 seconds left, after a turnover by Sanheim to Keller, the Coyotes' Goligoski scored from a sharp angle to win the game on a 3-on-2 rush. Assists went to Keller and Domi at 4:43.
"We gave up a three-on-two so there is obviously something you can do differently. Three on three it is tough. We made a decision instead of taking the puck to the net. Coming up ice trying to make a decision to delay it to some soft ice, a little bit of a bad roll and bad hop with the puck and they take it over and come back hard for the three on two and make the play for the goal," Hakstol said. The Flyers are on the road on Wednesday in Chicago and Thursday in St. Louis.