Seconds away from the dreaded shootout, the dynamic duo stepped in and sealed a crucial two points.
Shayne Gostisbehere's diving poke check in the slot slid a loose puck to Claude Giroux, who beat Ondrej Pavelec to give the Flyers a 3-2 win in overtime over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers controlled the early play but skated to a scoreless first, outshooting the Jets, 12-8.
Early in the second, the Flyers struck. Sean Couturier threaded a cross-ice pass to Mark Streit, giving the Flyers the 1-0 lead just 41 seconds into the period.
Just 4:29 later, Wayne Simmonds capped off a hellacious shift by the first line with his 26th goal of the season to make it a two-goal game.
But Winnipeg turned things up in the remainder of the second and cashed in once on a rough shift for the Couturier line. A turnover by Jake Voracek sent Mark Scheifele in alone on Steve Mason and he scored to cut the lead to one.
The Flyers held the one-goal lead at the close of the second, but the Jets had started to control the play.
It didn't take long for the Jets to tally with the equalizer in the third. 2:35 into the third, Blake Wheeler caught the Flyers napping on the backcheck and gained position in front of a helpless Mason to score the tying goal.
The Flyers played conservative for the rest of the third, while the Jets were content to fall into overtime as well.
In the overtime, the Flyers struggled to gain chances, missing on passes and struggling to get into prime scoring areas. Finally, with just 14 seconds left in the extra sessions, the captain and the rookie made a play that could make all the difference in the Flyers season.
Giroux grabbed the puck off of a Jets scoring chance that missed the net, sending him the other way with a lot of ice in front of him. Gostisbehere was streaking up center ice to join the rush and Giroux went for the feed, but Schiefele was there to break it up. But an alert Gostisbehere dove and stripped Schiefele of the puck and fed Giroux alone in front. He fired and beat Pavelec to give the Flyers the win.
The Flyers managed to maintain their standing position in the final wildcard spot with the win. Detroit also won their game tonight against Buffalo, remaining in a tie in points with the Flyers.
The Flyers next take the ice on Wednesday against the Washington Capitals, who claimed the President's Trophy for the league's best record this season on Monday night with a win. Game time is set for 8 p.m.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
