Ekblad’s OT Winner Sinks Flyers in Florida

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Entering the third period, Martin Jones had made 25 saves. Somehow, that was keeping his team in front. When the Florida Panthers finally got a power-play opportunity, they made quick work of it to solve the Flyers netminder.

The Flyers held on from there, as Jones stood on his head and made 12 saves in the third period to get the game to overtime. After stopping six shots for the Panthers to start the 3-on-3, Jones couldn't stop a one-time blast from Aaron Ekblad in a 2-1 overtime loss on Wednesday night. 

In the opening minutes of the game, it was all Florida Panthers, as they commanded the Flyers zone and peppered the net with shots. As the game was approaching the midpoint of the first period, the play started to even out, and there was a lot of transition rushes for both sides.

One such rush led to the opening goal of the game for the Flyers. After Jones made a save on a two-on-one, Travis Konecny quickly moved the puck the other way with a lead pass to Joel Farabee. Farabee moved in on a breakaway and beat Sergei Bobrovsky through the five-hole to make it 1-0. 

Both teams played at a quick pace for the remainder of the period. Through 20 minutes, shots were 16-14 Florida. The Flyers had the only power play in the period and generated a couple of chances, including a rebound for Konecny that was stopped by Bobrovsky.

The Panthers got back off to a strong start in the second period, once again dominating possession. Jones kept the Flyers in it once again, making several great saves including a sprawling stick save on Anton Lundell. 

The Flyers had another power play midway through the period, but weren't able to do anything with it. Through two periods, shots were 25-23 Florida, and the score remained 1-0 in favor of the Flyers. 

The Panthers got a power play early in the third and made quick work of it. Anthony Duclair completed the cross-ice backdoor pass to Sam Bennett for the easy tap-in goal just 24 seconds after Nick Seeler went to the box for slashing, tying the game up at one at 3:59 of the period. 

Florida kept the pressure on over the course of the third, and late in the period got a second power play. The Flyers held the Panthers off the board to get to overtime.

The Panthers dominated the overtime as well, and again Jones was the difference. The Flyers had one quality chance, getting a breakaway from Cam Atkinson where his chance beat Bobrovsky and went off the post. Off a face-off, Farabee lost his stick and that allowed the Panthers to get a quick cycle going and get the puck to Ekblad for the winner.

Jones made 44 saves in the loss. Bobrovsky made 32 saves in the win. Ekblad and Bennett each finished with two points.

The Flyers return home and will face the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Joel Farabee (5) (Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov) 7:33

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• FLA Sam Bennett (7) PP (Anthony Duclair, Aaron Ekblad) 3:59

Overtime

• FLA Ekblad (6) (Jonathan Huberdeau, Bennett) 2:39

Game Statistics