Flyers Settle for One Point after Massive Comeback
The Philadelphia Flyers' final game before the Christmas break was a wild one, to say the least.
Trailing by a 5-1 score that the end of the first period, the Philadelphia Flyers stormed back for two goals in the second stanza and three more in the third to take a 6-5 lead in Friday's road game against the Detroit Red Wings. After the Flyers yielded an awful goal with 4:30 remaining in regulation, the game went to overtime.
Detroit had the better of the play in sudden death, although both teams had opportunities to win the game. The match went to a shootout finale. Neither team scored in the first round. Detroit proceeded to receive goals from Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane to come away with the bonus point from the 7-6 (2-0) final.
The Flyers received goals in regulation from six different players: Bobby Brink (6th), Sean Couturier (9th), Morgan Frost (5th), Garnet Hathaway (3rd), Scott Laughton (3rd) and Owen Tippett (12th). Travis Sanheim, Egor Zamula and Joel Farabee chipped in two assists apiece.
For Detroit, the top line trio Alex DeBrincat (1a, two shots on goal on six attempts), Dylan Larkin (1g, 1a) and Patrick Kane (2g. 1a) were dominant in the first period and surged again in the latter portion of the game. Larkin's third period goal, scored from behind the Flyers' net, victimized Carter Hart in the RVH. The puck went off the goalie's hip, the inside of the post and into the net to equalize the score at 6-6.
The Red Wings also received goals, scored in the first period, from Daniel Sprong (PPG, 8th), J.T. Compher (7th) and Shayne Gostisbehere (6th, assisted by Kane and DeBrincat at the end of a lengthy stretch of puck possesion in the Flyers' zone).
Hart was strafed for five goals on 13 shots in the first period. With Hart coming off a lengthy illness-related absence (Samuel Ersson started five straight games) and needing work before the break, head coach John Tortorella did not make a goalie change. Hart, with the key exception of the Larkin goal, played well the rest of the game. In fact, Hart was brilliant in making six saves in OT, including three from high-danger range. However, in the shootout, both Raymond and Kane outmaneuvered Hart to convert on their attempts.
Hart finished the night with 31 saves on 37 shots across regulation and overtime before going 1-for-3 in the shootout. DeBrincat lost the puck on his first-round attempt.
It was also a long night for Detroit goalie James Reimer (37 saves on 43 shots in regulation and overtime, 2-for-2 in the shootout). Brink's goal was actually a partially botched shot. Brink was attempting a wrister upstairs but instead shot a changeup that fooled Reimer and entered the net. The goals by Couturier, Frost and Hathaway were all scored off deflections in front of the net. The Laughton tying goal and Tippett go-ahead tally in the third period were rebounds.
Friday's game also got feisty at times. Nick Seeler took major exception to a late hit from Christian Fischer and went ballistic in the penalty box when all of the initially announced penalty calls were on him. Seeler ended up receiving two minutes for instigation, five minutes for fighting, an automatic 10-minute misconduct for the instigator penalty and a game misconduct. Fischer received two minutes for an initial hooking penalty and five for fighting.
The Seeler vs. Fischer encounter at 3:01 of the second period had a galvanizing effect on the Flyers. Couturier scored at 3:37 and Frost followed at 4:01. Suddenly, the Flyers four-goal deficit was down to two. Most of the remainder of regulation belonged to the Flyers. By the time Hathaway drew Philly back within 5-4 at 5:51 of the third period, it felt inevitable that the Flyers would come away from the game with at least one point.
Hathaway drew the ire of Detroit players. With 6:43 left in the period. Reimer gloved down a Hathaway shot after a collision at center ice with Olli Mà¤à¤ttà¤. A scrum ensued after the whistle between Hathaway and Christian Fischer. Hathaway and Deslauriers received roughing penalties for Philly while Fischer and Justin Holl got the same for Detroit. Play stayed 5-on-5.
After the horn sounded to end the first period, Hathaway put his stick to Detroit's Robby Fabbi before exiting the ice. Hathaway was assessed a 10-minute misconduct to start the second period.
At 6:17 of the second period, with the Red Wings on a power play, Gostisbehere was called for interference on Hathaway. The former Flyers defenseman pantomimed a dive in front of the officials, accusing Hathaway of embellishment. Gostisbehere was tagged with an extra penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct as a result.
Apart of the goal he scored late in the first period, Friday's game was a rough one for "Ghost". He struggled mightily on the defensive side of the puck and finished the night at minus-two (on the ice for two Detroit goals but four Flyers goals) with ugly underlying metrics that reflected how much time Detroit spent in their own end of the ice after the first period. Gostisbehere was on the ice for 13 Flyers scoring chances (including eight high-danger chances) and had a 36.4 percent Corsi at 5-on-5.
For the Flyers, the momentum built and built over the second and third periods. However, the Larkin goal had a deflating effect. The Red Wings generated a push in the late minutes of regulation and the Flyers had to go into "bend but don't break" mode to nurse the game to OT.
For more on Friday's game, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com for period-by-period recaps, analysis, highlights, stats and more.
The Flyers (18-11-4) now have a lengthier-than-average stretch between games, overlapping the NHL's leaguewide Christmas break (Dec. 24, 25 and 26). The team is off from Dec. 23 to 27 before starting a western road trip in Vancouver on the 28th.
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Phantoms Drop Shootout in Charlotte, 5-4
It wasn't quite as crazy as the Flyers' massive comeback, but the Lehigh Valley Phantoms staged a dramatic comeback of their own before losing via shootout to the Charlotte Checkers, 5-4 (2-1), at Bojangles Coliseum on Friday evening.
The Phantoms trailed 2-0, pushed back to tie the game at 2-2, fell behind 4-2, and then scored twice early in the third period to forge a 4-4 deadlock that forced overtime and an eventual shootout.
Olle Lycksell (13th), Tanner Laczynski (PPG, 8th), Wade Allison (6th) and Cooper Marody (7th) scored for the Phantoms. Top-line center Laczynski had a multi-point game (1g, 1a) while Allison also had the Phantoms lone successful shootout attempt in the shootout. J.R. Avon and Lycksell had unsuccessful shootout opportunities.
For Charlotte, Zac Dalpe (5th) scored just nine seconds after the game's opening faceoff. The Checkers also received a first period tally by Brendan Perlini (6th, assisted by former Phantoms/Flyers forward Gerry Mayhew). Later, Mackie Samoskevic tallied even strength and power play markers (7th and 8th) to forge a 4-2 lead before Allison and Marody scored closely spaced goals to even the score at 4-4. In the shootout, Samoskevic and Perlini (winning goal) had successful attempts to secure a bonus point for the Checkers.
Ludovic Waeber stopped 38 of 42 shots for Charlotte before going 2-for-3 in the shootout. Parker Gahahen turned aside 26 of 30 shots before he went 1-for-3 in the skills competition.
The Phantoms went 1-for-4 on the power play. They were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Lehigh Valley (12-11-5) enters their Christmas break in seventh place in the Atlantic Division. However, the Phantoms are just four points behind the third-place W-B/S Penguins and six points behind the second place Hartford Wolf Pack. Ian Laperriere's team is now off until Dec. 27 when they host the Utica Comets at the PPL Center in Allentown.