For over 55 minutes, the Flyers were on the wrong end of another low-scoring game. Without Matvei Michkov in the lineup, the execution was better, but an all-world goaltender was taking care of everything at the other end.
That was until Owen Tippett solved Andrei Vasilevskiy with 4:16 remaining in the third to tie the game. In a shootout, Tippett scored again, getting the deciding goal while Ivan Fedotov turned away both shootout attempts in a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
The Flyers played a solid opening period, only to watch the Lightning break through to open the scoring in the final minute of the period. Nikita Kucherov made a nice move entering the zone and got Fedotov way out of his net, allowing for a wraparound goal. It was Kucherov’s 11th of the season to make it 1-0 at 19:15.
Through 20 minutes, shots were even, 7-7.
The Flyers out-shot the Lightning, 13-10, in the second period, notably picking things up later in the period. They were unable to solve Vasilevskiy in the middle period, and trailed by one heading to the third.
The Flyers kept the pressure on in the third, out-shooting the Lightning, 8-3, in the final 20 minutes. Finally, with 4:16 remaining in the third, they broke through and solved Vasilevskiy.
Tippett put a rising backhand shot over the shoulder of Vasilevskiy to even things up at one on his third goal of the season.
That forced overtime and the eventual shootout. Travis Konecny opened the scoring and Tippett finished it off, as Fedotov stopped both Gage Goncalves and Victor Hedman in Tampa’s attempts.
Fedotov made 22 saves on 23 shots for his first NHL win. Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of 31 shots in the loss.
The Flyers close out the three-game road trip on Saturday night aginst the Florida Panthers at 6 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | SO | T | |
| Flyers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Lightning | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- TB Nikita Kucherov (11) (Brandon Hagel, Emil Lilleberg) 19:15
2nd Period
- No Scoring
3rd Period
- PHI Owen Tippett (3) (Travis Konecny) 15:44
Overtime
- No Scoring
Shootout
- TB Gage Goncalves – Save
- PHI Travis Konecny – Goal
- TB Victor Hedman – Save
- PHI Owen Tippett – Goal
Game Statistics
| Flyers | Lightning | |
| Shots | 31 | 23 |
| Power Play | 0/2 | 0/2 |
| Hits | 23 | 14 |
| Faceoff % | 51.2% | 48.8% |
| Giveaways | 20 | 29 |
| Takeaways | 10 | 4 |
| Blocked Shots | 16 | 13 |
| Penalty Minutes | 4 | 4 |
