Through two periods, the Flyers didn't look like a team that believed in a playoff run. The third was a different story.
The Flyers roared back and erased a two-goal deficit to force overtime and close the playoff gap to five.
But they could do no better as Jiri Hudler scored in overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the Flyers on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flames opened the game with nine of the first 11 shots. One of those shots accounted for the first goal of the game.
Michael Del Zotto was starting a rush through the neutral zone when he was poke-checked by Hudler. Hudler briefly had a 2-on-0 with Mason Raymond before being tied up by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. But Hudler got the puck to Raymond who slid it across to Sean Monahan. Monahan beat Steve Mason with a wrist shot stick side to give the Flames the lead.
The Flyers started to gain more chances late in the first, closing the gap in shots to 12-10 at the end of the period.
The Flames would pad the lead with the only goal of the second period. A pass through the goal mouth by Lance Bouma deflected off the stick of Mark Streit and right to Mikael Backlund, who buried it past Mason. The Flyers had two power play chances in the second, but failed to score.
The Flyers opened the third was a quick goal. Immediately following a power play, Ryan White centered a pass to the tape of Sean Couturier for an easy goal, cutting the Calgary lead to one just 53 seconds into the period.
Shortly after, at 4:58, the Flyers appeared to tie the game. Jake Voracek circled the offensive zone and threw a shot on goal that was deflected by Couturier and sat in the crease. Nick Schultz came in from the point and put the puck in the net. But after a discussion, the play was deemed unreviewable and the goal was waved off.
The Flyers would tie the game at 8:15. Streit was up on the play and fell into the Calgary net after a scoring chance. As he got to his feet, the Flyers came up with the puck in the offensive zone. Michael Raffl threw a shot toward the net and Streit deflected it past Karri Ramo to even the score.
That controversial disallowed goal would prove to be huge as the game headed to overtime. The Flyers out-shot the Flames in the third, 15-7, to even up the score.
Just 1:23 into overtime, the Flames ended the game as Hudler beat Mason through the five-hole.
The Flyers out-shot the Flames, 37-26, for the game. The Flames also blocked 33 shots compared to 12 for the Flyers.
South Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau assisted on the game-winning goal for Calgary and took two shots.
Claude Giroux picked up an assist on Streit's goal, which was his 300th career assist and 60th point of the season.
The Flyers closed to within five points of a playoff spot by virtue of earning one point. They return to the ice on Thursday when they host the St. Louis Blues.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
