The NHL's point leader continued his torrid pace almost instantly on Sunday night in Winnipeg. Moments into overtime, he helped the Flyers complete a huge comeback.
The Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third before Jake Voracek scored his second goal of the night in overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Center.
Voracek opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game, finishing a 2-on-1 with Claude Giroux to give the Flyers the early lead.
The Jets responded on goalie Rob Zepp in his NHL debut. Winnipeg evened the score at 6:38 off a turnover by Matt Read as Matt Halischuk fired a shot past Zepp. Just 55 seconds later, Dustin Byfuglien walked in alone and beat Zepp as well to give the Jets the lead.
Winnipeg continued to control the play for the remainder of the first and throughout the second. At 11:21 of the second, the Jets added another goal as Mathieu Perreault grabbed a rebound and put it in the back of the net to give the Jets a two-goal lead.
The Jets would have had a three-goal lead if not for a great save by Zepp in the final minute of the second. Through two periods, the Jets had a 26-13 lead in shots.
The Flyers responded in the third by shutting down the Jets offensively. Winnipeg managed just two shots in the final 20 minutes as the Flyers pressed to start a rally.
They started it at 6:06 of the third as Mark Streit fired a shot through traffic that deflected off Vincent Lecavalier and beat Ondrej Pavelec to cut the lead to one. Chris VandeVelde had the other assist on Lecavalier's third goal of the season.
That pair would help the Flyers tie the game late. Off a face-off, VandeVelde managed to force a turnover as the puck went straight to Lecavalier in the slot and he laced a shot past Pavelec to tie the game with 3:14 to play.
The 10-2 shot advantage in the third helped the Flyers earn a point and force overtime.
The Flyers didn't waste any time getting the second point. Just 10 seconds into overtime, Giroux helped create a turnover behind the Winnipeg net. Voracek jumped on the loose puck, moved in front and beat Pavelec for the game-winning goal.
The Flyers have opened this crucial eight-game road trip with four points.
Voracek and Lecavalier each had two points. Zepp made 25 saves and picked up the win in his debut.
The Flyers return to action on Tuesday night in Minnesota against the Wild. The opening face-off is set for 7 p.m.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
