The Philadelphia Flyers wrapped up a home-and-home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. They gave them a good old smackdown back in Philadelphia on Tuesday but the Penguins returned the favor. The Flyers blew a 3-0 lead and allowed the Penguins to come all the way back and eventually win in overtime. A big point was picked up but this proved to be a brutal loss. The Flyers are now 26-26-8 on the season.
Noah Cates gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the first period. Bobby Brink made a nice cross-ice pass and Cates put a wrist shot past Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Brink and Egor Zamula collected assists.
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The Penguins got the game’s first power play at the 15:28 mark of the first period as Cam York was called for high-sticking. Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson made a huge save on Kevin Hayes and the Flyers did a great job clearing the puck when given the opportunity. The Penguins only managed to get two shots on net.
Owen Tippett gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead at the 1:44 mark of the second period. His slapshot from just inside the blue line went off of Ryan Shea’s skate in front and into the net. Nick Seeler and Matvei Michkov tallied assists.
Michkov gave the Flyers a 3-0 lead at the 7:24 mark of the second period. Tippett’s shot from the blue line went wide and off the boards but Michkov collected the bounce and put a backhander past Nedeljkovic. Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen were given assists.
The Penguins pulled Nedeljkovic after allowing the Michkov goal. Joel Blomqvist would take over in net.
Philip Tomasino got the Penguins on the board at the 9:05 mark of the second period. Evgeni Malkin set him up with a great pass and Tomasino was able to put a backhander over the blocker of Ersson. This made the score 3-1 Flyers. Malkin and Danton Heinen collected assists.
The Penguins pulled within one at the 9:35 mark of the second period courtesy of Erik Karlsson. He put a slapshot from the blueline under the right arm of Ersson. A nice pass from Sidney Crosby set him up. The score would now be 3-2 Flyers. Crosby received the lonely assist.
The Flyers got the game’s first power play at the 10:15 mark of the second period as Bokondji Imama was called for interference. He made a huge blindside hit on Garnet Hathaway and only recieved a minor penalty. The Flyers capitalized on the opprtunity, however, thanks to Mickov. Andrei Kuzmenko made a nice pass from the middle to Michkov and he put a wrist shot under the glove of Blomqvist. Kuzmenko and Travis Konecny tallied assists.
The Penguins, again, pulled within one at the 18:17 mark of the second period courtesy of Karlsson. He put a snapshot under the blocker of Ersson. This made the score 4-3 Flyers. Matt Grzelcyk and Malkin were given assists.
Malkin tied the game up at four at the 2:30 mark of the third period. Anthony Beauvillier made a nice touch pass back to him and Malkin put a snap shot over the glove of Ersson. Beauvillier and Ryan Graves picked up assists.
The Flyers got their second power play at the 6:41 mark of the third period as Tomasino was called for tripping. They managed to get three shots on net and Konecny and Tippett had great chances in tight.
The game would then got to overtime as no team could score another goal in regulation. The Penguins would end their losing streak with a goal by Malkin at the 1:03 mark of the overtime period. He passed the puck to Letang off the bench and then back to Malkin. Malkin then put a snapshot shortside on Ersson. Letang and Karlsson collected assists.
The Flyers went one for two on the power play and managed to kill of the Penguins only man advantage.
Ersson made some huge saves but overall had a rough night. He saved 20 of 25 shots, giving him a .800 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Cates (13) Assists: Brink (20), Zamula (11)
2nd Period:
Tippett (18) Assists: Seeler (17), Michkov (25)
Michkov (18) Assists: Tippett (17), Ristolainen (15)
Tomasino (9) Assists: Malkin (28), Heinen (15)
Karlsson (7) Assists: Crosby (43)
Michkov (19) (Power Play) Assists: Kuzmenko (13), Konecny (41)
Karlsson (8) Assists: Grzelcyk (28), Malkin (29)
3rd Period:
Malkin (11) Assists: Beauvillier (7), Graves (1)
Overtime:
Malkin (12) Assists: Letang (15), Karlsson (35)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Saturday, Mar 1. in Winnipeg against the Jets.
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