Frolik Scores OT Winner as Flyers Drop 4th Straight

(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

With the Calgary Flames in town on Saturday afternoon, the Flyers fell further into the ring of fire.

It was another good start for the Orange and Black, who took a 3-1 lead after the first period, only to lose the lead twice in a wild second period. It was ultimately the Flames getting the win in overtime, 5-4, to hand the Flyers their fourth straight loss.

Just like their last game on Thursday, the Flyers didn't waste much time getting on the board. A point shot by Brandon Manning made it through and hit the post and then banked off of Mike Smith and in for the game's first goal. It was Manning's third of the season at 1:32.

The Flames tied the game just after a good scoring chance for the Flyers. With the Flyers caught after a rush that nearly resulted in a rebound goal for Claude Giroux, Michael Ferland connected on a home-run pass with Johnny Gaudreau for a breakaway. Gaudreau, who entered the game on an eight-game points streak, didn't miss, beating Brian Elliott to the blocker side to tie the game at 7:13.

The Flyers responded on the power play at 13:22. A shot by Jake Voracek was stopped by Smith, but the Calgary netminder left a big rebound for Sean Couturier, who lifted it over Smith to put the Flyers back on top with his 12th goal of the season.

Scoring has been a problem for the Flyers of late, but they kept pouring it on against a Flames team that allowed 15 goals in the last three games. Off a face-off, Ivan Provorov fired a wrist shot to the top corner over the glove of Smith for his third goal of the season with 3:52 to play in the period.

The Flyers had to kill off a penalty at 4-on-3 in the final minutes of the period, but didn't allow much to the Flames. Couturier nearly added another goal on a shorthanded breakaway that was stopped by Smith. At the other end, the Flames didn't manage a shot on goal on the power play until the closing seconds, and Elliott stood tall to keep the score at 3-1 through 20 minutes.

Shots after the first period were 13-12 Flames.

The second period is where things turned wild.

The Flyers had a power play and appeared to get a glorious chance as Travis Konecny escaped with the puck out of a scrum in the corner. However, Dale Weise was called for a high-sticking penalty that nullified the remaining power play time.

After the 4-on-4 time expired, Sean Monahan scored on a deflection in front of the net on a shot by Kris Versteeg to cut the Flyers lead to one.

Moments later, Manning took a slashing penalty to put the Flames back on the power play. With lots of traffic at the net, the puck came loose to Gaudreau with space. Gaudreau's shot was stopped by Elliott, but left a big rebound. With no time to recover and an open net behind him, Monahan was able to lift the rebound in to tie the game at 9:51 of the period.

To this point in the period, the Flyers had been dominating play at even strength, but struggled to stay out of the box. Shayne Gostisbehere was even sent to the box on a bench minor, giving the Flames another man advantage. The Flyers killed that one off, went back to work and eventually claimed the lead back.

With the Flyers buzzing around the net, Voracek tried to tuck the puck past Smith a couple times. The puck eventually made its way to Nolan Patrick and he lifted a backhander into the net for his second NHL goal and first on home ice.

That lead was short-lived though. Just 15 seconds after the goal, Gostisbehere was headed back to the box on an elbowing minor. The Flames managed to cash in again.

A point shot by Gaudreau was blocked by Taylor Leier and sent him to the ice in a heap. Play continued with Leier down and out, as Gaudreau regained the puck and centered for Monahan for the one-timer, as the Flames forward completed the hat trick at 14:56 to tie the game at four.

Shots for the period were 16-12 Flyers, and 28-25 Flyers for the game after 40 minutes.

As the third period progressed, both teams had close chances to get the lead, but couldn't find the goal. The Flames also hit two posts in the period.

The Flyers got the best chance of the period in the final two minutes, as Matt Stajan took a tripping penalty to give them a power play with 2:01 to play. The Flyers got some close chances on the man advantage, but failed to score and the game went to overtime.

The Flyers took possession early in overtime, but it was the Flames getting the only shot, a one-timer by Michael Frolik on a two-on-one that ended things at 1:18 of the overtime.

Smith made 35 saves in the win. Elliott made 26 saves in the loss. The overtime loss marked the fourth straight for the Flyers, who dropped to 8-8-4 on the season.

The Flyers are back in action on Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Brandon Manning (3) (Valtteri Filppula) 1:32
• CGY Johnny Gaudreau (9) (Michael Ferland, Sean Monahan) 7:13
• PHI Sean Couturier (12) PP (Jake Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere) 13:22
• PHI Ivan Provorov (3) (Jori Lehtera, Scott Laughton) 16:08

2nd Period

• CGY Sean Monahan (9) PP (Kris Versteeg, Mark Giordano) 6:07
• CGY Monahan (10) PP (Gaudreau, T.J. Brodie) 9:51
• PHI Nolan Patrick (2) (Voracek, Claude Giroux) 14:02
• CGY Monahan (11) PP (Gaudreau, Versteeg) 14:56

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Overtime

• CGY Michael Frolik (4) (Mikael Backlund, Brodie) 1:18

Game Statistics