Flyers Blow 4-Goal Lead, Win in OT

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

All's well that ends well.

The Flyers struck for two early goals in the third period to chase Jimmy Howard and make it a 5-1 game. 

That should have been the nail in the coffin. Instead, the Red Wings rallied for two quick goals and erased the four-goal deficit with the game-tying goal with seven seconds left in regulation.

No matter for the Flyers, as Travis Konecny scored the game-winning goal at 1:27 of overtime to secure the two points in a 6-5 win over the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon.

The Flyers got off to a quick start and scored first at 4:34. Nolan Patrick did a great job protecting the puck in the offensive zone and fed Shayne Gostisbehere cutting in on goal. Gostisbehere lifted a shot high to the short side over Howard for his sixth goal of the season to give the Flyers the lead.

The Red Wings tied things up at 14:07. Travis Sanheim was caught flat-footed off the face-off and later failed to clear the zone. He blocked a shot attempt but was not able to cut off a pass through the slot to Gustav Nyquist, waiting alone at the side of the net for the easy tip-in through the legs of Carter Hart.

After 20 minutes, shots were 13-11 Flyers.

The Flyers got a power play just 1:08 into the second period. With nine seconds left on the man-advantage, they finally capitalized.

Konecny held the puck for a few seconds, then fired a shot that beat Howard from the right circle to give the Flyers the lead again. The power play goal was Konecny's 16th of the season.

Just 1:03 later, the Flyers got on the board again. Scott Laughton snapped a 26-game goalless drought with his eighth of the season to make it 3-1.

The Flyers continued to apply pressure throughout the second period. Late in the period, they had to kill off the first Detroit power play of the game, and did with little trouble.

After two periods, shots were even, 20-20.

The Flyers roared out of the gate in the third with two quick goals in the first 1:24 of the period. Jake Voracek and Nolan Patrick each scored on rebounds. The goals were separated by 53 seconds and Howard was pulled as a result. He made 19 saves on 24 shots.

The Red Wings quickly trimmed away at the lead with two goals separated by 44 seconds. At the 2:39 mark, Tyler Bertuzzi scored off a Flyers turnover to make it 5-2. Thomas Vanek added a goal at 3:23 to make it 5-3.

With 11:24 left in the third, the Red Wings got another goal off a Flyers failed clear. Danny Dekeyser fired from the point and the shot was deflected by Anthony Mantha for the goal to cut the lead to one. 

The Flyers were on the verge of closing out the victory when the Red Wings got the tying goal in the final seconds. A point shot by Mike Green was deflected in by Mantha for his second of the game with seven seconds remaining, forcing overtime.

It took 1:27 of the overtime for the Flyers to capitalize and secure the win. Konecny got the puck and redirected a chance toward the goal. The loose puck went behind the net and Konecny raced to it and beat Jonathan Bernier to the other side of the post for the wraparound, giving the Flyers the win with his second goal of the game.

Hart made 33 saves on 38 shots in the win. Bernier finished with seven saves on eight shots.

Patrick had a goal and two assists for a three-point game. Konecny finished with a pair of goals. Laughton and Gostisbehere had a goal and an assist. Simmonds and Couturier each had two assists. 

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Shayne Gostisbehere (6) (Nolan Patrick, Scott Laughton) 4:34
• DET Gustav Nyquist (15) (Tyler Bertuzzi, Mike Green) 14:07

2nd Period

• PHI Travis Konecny (16) PP (Ivan Provorov, Sean Couturier) 2:59
• PHI Laughton (8) (Wayne Simmonds, Patrick) 4:02

3rd Period

• PHI Jake Voracek (15) (Oskar Lindblom) 0:31
• PHI Patrick (12) (Simmonds, Andrew MacDonald) 1:24
• DET Bertuzzi (14) (Dylan Larkin) 2:39
• DET Thomas Vanek (12) (Unassisted) 3:23
• DET Anthony Mantha (13) (Danny Dekeyser, Christoffer Ehn) 8:36
• DET Mantha (14) (Green, Niklas Kronwall) 19:53

Overtime

• PHI Konecny (17) (Couturier, Gostisbehere) 1:27

Game Statistics