Wrap: Flyers Fail to Close, Lose in Shootout
The Philadelphia Flyers saw their winless streak extend to six straight games as they lost via shootout, 5-4 (1-0), to the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Saturday evening. The Flyers led 2-0, trailed 3-2, and then took a 4-3 lead in the third period. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, the Canadiens tied the game with 1.9 seconds left in regulation and went on to win in the skills competition.
Owen Tippett recorded the first two-goal game of his NHL career. Cole Caufield tallied twice for Montreal, including the buzzer-beating game-tying goal late in the third period.
Travis Sanheim (1st goal of the season) and Tippett (5th) gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead in the first 2:55 of the game. Montreal tied up on goals by Christian Dvorak (4th) at 4:07 and Caufield (5-on-3 PPG, 10th) at 17:49.
In the second period, defenseman Mike Matheson (1st) gave Montreal a 3-2 lead at 11:55. That was answered by a Tippett goal (2nd of the game, 6th of the season) directly off a faceoff at the 15:50 mark.
A Kevin Hayes goal (5th) at 8:17 of the third period to give Philly a 4-3 lead. With Montreal attacking on a 6-on-5, Caufield forced overtime (11th goal of the season, second of the game) at 19:58.
Carter Hart stopped 28 of 32 shots in regulation in overtime. He was 2-for-3 in the shootout. Jake Allen denied 25 of 29 Flyers shots through 29 minutes. In the skills competition, Allen was officially 3-for-3 although a second-round attempt by Morgan Frost clanked off both goal posts.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play including a four-minute advantage late in the second period and early in the third. The Canadiens were 1-for-3, scoring on a two-man advantage.
With the Flyers on a third period power play, Scott Laughton was on the receiving end of a clean hit from Kaiden Guhle. Laughton appeared to hit his head on the ice. He did not return to the game.
Tippett attempted 17 shots on goal (six on net, six that were blocked, five that missed the net) and skated 21:25. All three members of the Flyers' top line were good in this game but Tippett was a level beyond that. Frost skated 23:33, had two shots on goal (both from prime range including a breakaway created by Tippett), made a good defensive play on the sequence that led up to Tippett's first goal, had a credited hit and a takeaway. Frost also saw PK time (1:03) for the first time since very early in the season. Faceoffs (1-for-10) were the one area where Frost struggled in this game. Joel Farabee logged 19:03, assisted on the first Tippett goal, attempt four shots (one on net) and blocked a shot.
Tony DeAngelo logged 31:25 of ice time. He had four shots on goal on five attempts and blocked a shot. Ivan Provorov played 23:31, put two shots on goal on six attempts, blocked a shot and had one takeaway credited and one giveaway charged. Sanheim had a goal and an assist, three blocked shots, a takeaway credited and a giveaway charged in 18:22 of ice time. Rasmus Ristolainen was credited with a half-dozen hits to lead the defense corps; Nicolas Deslauriers (seven) led overall.
For an in-depth game report with a period-by-period overview, analysis, stats and highlights, see the
Postgame 5.
The Flyers (7-7-4) have an off-day on Sunday. On Monday, Philly will host the Calgary Flames (8-7-2) at the Wells Fargo Center.
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Phantoms Prevail in Providence
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (7-5-1) have won five games in a row. On Saturday night, one evening after earning a 4-2 road win over the first-place Providence Bruins, the Phantoms claimed a 3-2 (1-0) shootout victory in the second game of the back-to-back in Providence. The Bruins dropped to 10-2-3 after carrying a 10-1-1 record into this weekend,
In his second game back with the Phantoms after being sent down by the Flyers, Tanner Laczynski was the hero for Lehigh Valley. In regulation, he figured in both Phantoms goals with a first-period tally that tied the score at 1-1 and a second period assist on Jackson Cates' third goal of the AHL season. Tyson Foerster had the primary helper (6th assist of the season) after Laczynski started a counterattack from just outside the Providence blueline. On the earlier unassisted Laczynski goal, the player claimed the puck in the defensive zone, beat every defender who tried to stop his solo counterattack, and finished it off by scoring low to the glove side. It was one of two breakaways that Laczynski had in the game.
The Phantoms carried a 2-1 lead into the third period before Vinny Lettieri (8th goal of the season) scored the tying goal with 6:43 left on the clock. That would be the last puck to get past the red-hot Samuel Ersson, who made 30 saves in regulation and overtime before going 3-for-3 in the shootout.
Laczynski led off the shootout for Lehigh Valley with a successful attempt. That would be the lone tally for either side. Brandon Bussi took the hard-luck loss for Providence despite stopping 44 of 46 shots during the hockey game and two of three in the shootout.
There is no time for the Phantoms to celebrate their two wins over Providence. They are right back in action on Sunday afternoon to visit the Springfield Thunderbirds (6-6-3). Game time is at 3:05 p.m. ET.
SATURDAY'S LINEUP
18 Jackson Cates - 10 Tanner Laczynski - 71 Tyson Foerster
48 Alex Kile - 51 Artem Anisimov - 25 Cooper Marody
17 Garrett Wilson - 91 Elliot Desnoyers - 14 Zayde Wisdom
19 Isaac Ratcliffe - 9 Cal O'Reilly - 15 Jordy Bellerive
45 Cam York - 47 Louie Belpedio
6 Linus Högberg - 12 Ronnie Attard
37 Adam Ginning - 29 Wyatte Wylie
30 Samuel Ersson
[35 Pat Nagle]
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