Konecny Scores 2nd OT Winner as Flyers Steal Game from Detroit

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Travis Konecny scored the game-winning goal in overtime 27 seconds in with help from Sean Couturier. No, that is not a copy of Sunday's story.

For the third straight in overtime, the Flyers got a game-winner from the Konecny-Couturier duo, with Konecny scoring to give the Flyers a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesers Arena on Tuesday night.

The Flyers struggled out of the game, and Detroit took advantage with a lot of controlled possession early. Shots were 5-4 Flyers after the first, but Detroit grabbed the lead where it counted midway through the period.

A point shot by Jonathan Ericsson hit off of Brandon Manning's leg in front of a screened Brian Elliott, changed direction and went in to give Detroit the first goal. It was Ericsson's second goal of the season.

But early in the second, the Flyers picked up the tempo and found the tying goal rather quickly.

Just like Ericsson's goal, it was a shot through a screen that gave the Flyers the equalizer, as Andrew MacDonald fired a long-range shot that beat Petr Mrazek at 1:10 of the period. It was the first goal Mrazek had allowed in 145:05, snapping a shutout streak that extended over two full games.

The Flyers and Red Wings each had chances in the period that came close, and both teams had power plays in the period that went by the wayside. But the Flyers got another man advantage late in the period almost immediately after a big save by Elliott.

With just 37 seconds remaining in the period, Jake Voracek picked up a rebound to give the Flyers the lead going to the third. The goal was reviewed, as Wayne Simmonds was around the crease, but the goal was deemed good upon review.

The Flyers otherwise dominated the period with a shot advantage of 18-7 and lots of possession time.

In the third, the Red Wings began their push back and the Flyers looked frantic in their own zone. It took until just past the halfway point for the Red Wings to strike and get the equalizer that was inevitable.

Off a quick rush that was poorly played by the Flyers, Detroit never really got a shot on goal, but the puck ended up loose at the side of the net for Frans Nielsen to easily tap it in for the tying goal with 9:16 to play.

The Flyers had to fend off the pressure from the Red Wings in the rest of the third. Robert Hagg took a boarding penalty that put the Flyers on the penalty kill. Tyler Bertuzzi had the game on his stick twice and missed the net both times with a yawning cage in front of him.

In the end, the Flyers were lucky to see the third period come to an end with the game tied and get a point in the standings.

The Flyers started the overtime with the trio that won the previous two games in overtime: Konecny, Couturier and Ivan Provorov. Just like the first two games, the game-winning goal came less than 30 seconds in. Couturier won a battle at the blue line with Dylan Larkin and lifted the puck into the zone to Konecny. Konecny was already in the zone, but alertly retouched without touching the puck to avoid the offside call and picked up the puck, fired a wrist shot and beat Mrazek for the winner.

The goal was reviewed for potential offside but was ruled a good goal, ending the game.

Elliott made 19 saves on 21 shots in the win. Mrazek stopped 28 shots in the loss.

The Flyers also played the third period without Michael Raffl, who left the game with a lower-body injury.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• DET Jonathan Ericsson (2) (Luke Glendening) 10:42

2nd Period

• PHI Andrew MacDonald (2) (Jake Voracek) 1:10
• PHI Voracek (9) PP (Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux) 19:23

3rd Period

• DET Frans Nielsen (11) (Tomas Tatar, Glendening) 10:44

Overtime

• PHI Travis Konecny (9) (Couturier) 0:27

Game Statistics