The Flyers opened the 2017 portion of their schedule with a game in a building that's been tough for them to win in, while looking to bounce back from winless stretch on a four-game road trip. They countered with their most shots on goal since 2012, unloading a relentless assault on one of the NHL's prominent young goalies.
Ordinarily, that formula seems as if it would lead to a Flyers win.
It didn't pan out on Sunday, as the Flyers ended their trip with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Despite a total of 55 shots on goal — their highest total since Feb. 21, 2012 (a 5-4 overtime win) — the young John Gibson was there to stone the Orange and Black at every step of the way, setting a new career-high with 51 saves.
Ryan Kesler also looked to stifle the Flyers (20-14-5) at every turn, recording the fourth hat trick of his career just over a minute into the second period. Every time Kesler would score, though, the Flyers would find a way to bounce back.
Fresh off his one-game benching, Travis Konecny answered for the Flyers to snap a 22-game goalless drought, striking at 8:14 of the first period — just 19 seconds after Kesler's first goal. Sean Couturier also found twine in his third game since returning from injury, at 1:46 of the second stanza (or 37 seconds after Kesler's second goal).
Brayden Schenn evened the score at 3 before the period could end, on a power-play goal. It was all Gibson from there, though, as he stopped the next 33 Flyers shots en route to the most dominant performance of his young career. His previous career-high was 39, which he matched twice, and his 51 saves match a franchise record (which also includes Mikhail Schtalenkov, Jonas Hiller and Jean-Sebastien Giguere).
Though the Flyers had their chances in the overtime period, they could not find a way to deliver the overtime-winner against a Ducks team that is 0-7 in the three-on-three period. Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry each scored in the shootout for the Ducks, while Jakub Voracek was the only Flyer that could find the back of the net.
Steve Mason turned in nearly half as many saves as Gibson did, stopping 22 of 25 saves. He otherwise did look sharp, after sustaining a hand injury in the Flyers' loss to San Jose on Friday.
Perhaps the weirdest moment of the game came after Schenn's goal, as Gibson was removed from his net and skated off. He exchanged words with coach Randy Carlyle, and Jonathan Bernier took his place. Gibson returned after the next stoppage of play, and held steady for the Ducks (19-12-8).
The loss gives the Flyers a total of just one point on their road trip, going 0-3-1. They return home on Wednesday, for a tough matchup against the New York Rangers.
