Flyers Force OT, Fall to Detroit in Shootout

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It was a homecoming for new Flyers netminder Petr Mrazek, but it quickly turned into a nightmare in the second period. 

Three second-period goals knocked Mrazek from the game and the Flyers had to furiously rally back to even get one point in the standings. In the end, the rally for two points fell short, as the Flyers dropped the decision to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4, in a shootout on Tuesday night at Little Caesar's Arena.

The first period was mostly uneventful. The Flyers came out a bit slow and allowed Detroit to open up a 6-1 advantage in shots early. The Flyers had a few chances in the period, but Detroit controlled the play and had the better opportunities. Detroit also had a power play in the period but were held scoreless.

After 20 minutes, there was no score and shots were 13-9 Detroit.

The Red Wings came out with similar push in the second period and quickly opened up a lead.

It started with a two-on-one led by Dylan Larkin. He entered the zone and picked his spot with a wrist shot past Mrazek to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.

The Flyers had a power play moments later with a chance to even things back up. Instead, Detroit capitalized on a counter-rush. Luke Glendening took a shot from along the boards that beat Mrazek to make it 2-0. It was the 10th shorthanded goal the Flyers have allowed this season.

The Flyers did answer back shortly after. Claude Giroux fired a shot that hit the post and Sean Couturier was able to pick up the rebound for his 30th goal of the season and 100th goal of his career. The assist for Giroux was the 660th point of his career, moving him into fifth all-time in Flyers history.

Detroit came right back with a furious flurry of chances. Finally, one from the slot by Evgeny Svechnikov went in for his first NHL goal.

That was the end of the night for Mrazek, who exited with 16 saves on 19 shots. Alex Lyon only had to make three saves for the remainder of the period, but the Flyers took the two-goal deficit into the third.

The Flyers outshot the Red Wings, 16-4, in the third and found a way to erase the margin. First, a shot by Scott Laughton hit Matt Read's shin pad and went in to cut the lead to one.

Shortly after Read's goal, the Flyers were back on the power play and took advantage as Shayne Gostisbehere fired a shot to beat Jimmy Howard and tie the game.

From there, the Flyers carried the momentum, but a mistake behind the net allowed Detroit to reclaim the lead. A turnover led to Larkin getting the puck in the slot. He didn't miss with his chance, giving Detroit the lead back with 5:54 to play. The Flyers took just 28 seconds to find the equalizer, as Travis Konecny went hard to the net and had Couturier's centering pass hit off his body and into the net for the tying goal.

The Flyers also got a late power play in the third but failed to score in the final 35 seconds of regulation and the game headed to overtime with the Flyers having 1:25 of 4-on-3 time.

The Flyers failed to score on the power play as Lyon and Howard traded tremendous saves in the frantic overtime. The scoreless overtime led to a shootout.

Frans Nielsen scored in the first round for Detroit and that was the only goal needed in the skills competition.

Giroux finished the game with three assists. Gostisbehere and Couturier each had a goal and assist.

Lyon made 11 saves on 12 shots in relief of Mrazek. Howard stopped 27 of 31 in the win.

The loss also dropped the Flyers in the standings. Wins for Washington and Columbus altered the playoff picture, as Columbus moved into third in the Metropolitan Division and the Flyers fell to the first wildcard spot. They are three points ahead of the Devils, pending their result against San Jose, and five points ahead of the Panthers, who have three games in hand on the Flyers.

The Flyers are back in action against the New York Rangers on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• DET Dylan Larkin (10) (Darren Helm) 6:08
• DET Luke Glendening (9) SH (Trevor Daley) 7:59
• PHI Sean Couturier (30) PP (Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere) 8:53
• DET Evgeny Svechnikov (1) (Martin Frk, Larkin) 9:57

3rd Period

• PHI Matt Read (1) (Scott Laughton, Jori Lehtera) 7:46
• PHI Gostisbehere (13) PP (Jake Voracek, Giroux) 9:40
• DET Larkin (11) (Anthony Mantha) 14:06
• PHI Travis Konecny (20) (Couturier, Giroux)

Overtime

• No Scoring

Shootout

• DET Frans Nielsen – Goal
• PHI Jake Voracek – Save
• DET Gustav Nyquist – Save
• PHI Jordan Weal – Miss
• DET Dylan Larkin – Save
• PHI Nolan Patrick – Miss

Game Statistics