Philadelphia Flyers
Penguins Score Three Unanswered, Flyers Fall 5-4 in Overtime
The Philadelphia Flyers picked up a point but fell 5-4 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night. With the loss, the Flyers’ record dropped to 26-26-8 with 22 games remaining.
Matvei Michkov had another big game, earning three points with two goals and an assist, catapulting him to the top of the NHL rookie scoring ladder. Noah Cates and Owen Tippett also scored for the Flyers in Thursday’s loss.
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Flyers Dominate in the First Period
The Flyers suffocated the Penguins in the first period of Thursday’s contest.
It took Pittsburgh 14 minutes and 40 seconds into the first period before they even registered a shot on goal. The Flyers controlled the neutral zone for most of the period, and the Penguins were unable to generate much of anything within the first 15 minutes of the period.
While the Penguins were able to pick things up a bit towards the end of the period, Noah Cates (13) made the difference in the period’s score. The Cates line continued their excellent play from Tuesday’s game to Thursday’s. Bobby Brink (20) and Egor Zamula (11) got the assists on the Cates goal. The Flyers held a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Six-Goal-Second
The first period lacked offense. The second period made up for it.
Owen Tippett (18) and Matvei Michkov (18) both tallied scores in the first eight minutes of the second period. Michkov (25) has an assist on the Tippett goal, along with Nick Seeler (11). Tippett (17) and Rasmus Ristolainen (15) earned assists on the Michkov tally.
With the Flyers leading 3-0 just around the halfway mark of the game, the Penguins pulled goaltender Alex Nedelijkovic in favor of Joel Blomqvist, which gave them a spark.
Phil Tomasino (9) scored his second goal against the Flyers in as many games, and put Pittsburgh on the board.
30 seconds later, Erik Karlsson (7) brought Pittsburgh back within one with his first goal of the night. Michkov (19) scored his second goal of the period–a power-play goal. After the Michkov goal, it was all Pittsburgh from there.
Three Unanswered Goals
Karlsson (8) answered Michkov’s second score with his second goal of the period. The Penguins brought it back to a one goal game, trailing 4-3 heading into the second intermission. Evgeni Malkin (11) tied the game up at four a piece just two and a half minutes into the third period.
Both sides traded dangerous possessions one after another, but the goaltending stood tall for the remaining 17 minutes and 30 seconds of the period, leading to free hockey in Pittsburgh.
With the Flyers distracted by Pittsburgh’s line change, the Penguins had a two-on-one chance: two future hall-of-famers vs. Jamie Drysdale.
Kris Letang fed Malkin, with Drysdale between the two, doing all he could. Malking showed his patience, and waited out the Flyers lone defender, and cashed in with the overtime-winner. The Penguins scored three straight goals to end the Flyers’ three-game winning streak.
What’s Next for the Flyers
The Flyers will head to Winnipeg, as they will face off with the scorching Jets on Saturday.
Teams that want to win and do win in the NHL,play defense 60 minutes of a game,and not 30 or 40.How many times do we watch a flyers game and everyone heads out of the defensive zone before the puck does.That happened on Pittsburgh’s first goal and let them back in a game they had no business winning.The coaches teach defense,until the players decide to consistently play it,this team will go nowhere.UGH!
Please provide an update on Hathaway when you hear something. Did not look good the way he needed help off the ice.
Will do. As of this moment, there is no update other than him not returning due to evaluations.
Postgame, Torts made it clear that it is a head injury. He’ll likely he out at least a week or two if it is in fact a head injury.
With them playing Winnipeg twice over the next week, would have assumed that Fedotov was in the pipes tonight. Torts will burn out Ersson similar to last season, which technically could be a good thing because a top 5 pick is much better than a 10-15 pick. The one thing that will suck is the Penguins getting a higher pick than us.
I’m starting to get the same sense. Mentally, Sam is in a better place now than he was last season. No matter how good his mental game is, it won’t stop the wear and tear of a heavy workload. A good backup needs to be a priority before they’re competitive again.
Understand Danny is finding it hard to move Risto at his asking price…perhaps lower the price…ilo of 1st round pick plus a prospect…why not a couple 2nd round picks…this year and next and also a prospect. Or perhaps entice another club with picking up 40% of Risto’s remaining contract….Flyers still save in cap space. The art of the deal remains Danny.