Panic in Detroit, Flyers Earn Point After Going Down 5-1 in First Period

Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder

Detroit’s Patrick Kane scored two goals in the first 8:16 of this game and it seemed like this was going to be a very long night. Then things took a turn for the worse.

Bobby Brink brought hope to the night scoring just 44 seconds after Detroit’s second goal. It looked almost like he flubbed the shot. He appeared to be going for top shelf but his stick chipped over the puck and sent it on the ice five hole. That glimmer of hope was soon crushed.

The last five minutes of the 1st period saw goals by Daniel Sprong, J.T. Compher, and our old friend Shane Gostisbehere. After twenty minutes of play the Red Wings held a commanding lead of 5 to 1.

Carter Hart

Carter Hart was retuning tonight after missing an extended period of time with an illness. This was his first start since December 9th. The 1st period was not the kind of return anyone would have been looking forward to. Five goals on thirteen shots. You might expect Hart to not return to the game at the start of the 2nd period but he did.

John Tortorella can be really demanding of his team. We all know by now he is not opposed to benching even his most prestigious players. But he is not big on pulling goalies. He likes to see them play through it. Also it’s not like Hart was the only problem in the 1st period. Tortorella left all of his players in place to be responsible for, and own the deficit they had created. Here’s your shovel, start digging.

Comeback

The Flyers started digging right away. Things came to a boil three minutes into the 2nd period when Christian Fischer hooked Nick Seeler. Seeler responded by jumping Fischer. The two went at it trading haymakers till Seeler threw Fischer to the ice and landed on top. …You know you are holding your own when Nick Deslauriers is just standing there watching the show.

Seeler went into the box hot as he listened to the penalties being announced. Fischer got two for the hook and five for fighting. Seeler got five for fighting and a misconduct for instigating. Nick hit the roof. He was yelling something at the ref that started with “F” and it wasn’t Festivus. His list of grievances got him tossed out of the game.

The incident was like an on switch for his teammates. The next minute of play saw goals by Sean Couturier and Morgan Frost. Carter Hart was looking a lot more like himself and things were looking not quite as bad for the Orange and Black.

Keep digging

The 3rd period featured some real solid goaltending from Carter Hart who bounced back from the 1st period and was allowing his team to mount a comeback. The period also saw goals from Garnet Hathaway, Scott Laughton, and Owen Tippett. The Flyers had unbelievably taken the lead in this game 6-5 with just under six minutes left in regulation.

Giving it right back

The Flyers did not need to score another goal to complete this comeback. They needed to hunker down and protect the lead. Unfortunately as they often do they gave the goal right back to Detroit 37 seconds later. The Flyers were headed into overtime with the score tied at six.

Carter Hart was the hands down star of the overtime period. He had completely shaken off the tragic start of this game, helped his team earn a well fought point, and was now taking them to the shootout.

Detroit did end up winning the shootout on goals by Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane. …of course.

Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store

Cool Matvei Michkov merchandise

This game said a whole lot about this team, their amazing resilience, and their gutsy coach. John Tortorella is teaching his team long lessons about the game of hockey but more importantly about themselves. Tortorella is a stickler for players reaching their full potential. Finding that depth inside of themselves. This is not a negative approach. He may sound harsh at times but this is a coach who believes in his players, sometimes more than they believe in themselves.