Gostisbehere scores OT winner as Philadelphia Flyers defeat Coyotes 5-4

The Philadelphia Flyers kicked off their five game home stand as they hosted the Arizona Coyotes.

After defeating them 5-2 on Monday night, the Philadelphia Flyers faced the Arizona Coyotes in the second half of a home-and-home series.

Calvin Pickard opposed Darcy Kuemper in-net, which was the same goaltending matchup as Monday’s. Pickard had his best start of the season, making 34 saves on 36 shots. Kuemper, on the other hand, let four goals passed him on 33 shots and definitely was looking to rebound from it.

The Flyers got off to an early lead, as Travis Konecny scored just 1:18 into the first period to make it a 1-0 game. Claude Giroux had a beauty of a pass to set Konecny up, his 12th assist of the season. Richard Panik took a hooking penalty soon after, giving Philadelphia the first power-play opportunity of the game. Arizona killed the penalty but not without some great scoring chances from the Flyers top unit.

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Scott Laughton went ahead and put the Flyers up 2-0 off a nice shot he got passed Kuemper. It was his fifth goal of the year for the team. Wayne Simmonds took a delay-of-game penalty a quarter way through the period, giving Arizona their first power-play. Oliver Ekman-Larsson took advantage, and cut the Flyers lead to one with the goal on the man advantage.

Panik took another hooking penalty later on in the first, putting the Flyers on their second man advantage of the period. The top power-play unit again applied pressure in the Coyotes zone, but couldn’t put the puck passed Kuemper. Simmonds went off for cross-checking with 90 seconds to go, and gave Arizona their second power-play. The first period ended with the Flyers leading 2-1, and had 27 seconds of power-play time left to kill.

Philadelphia killed the remaining time on the Simmonds penalty to start the second, keeping their lead at 2-1. That lead didn’t last long, as Brad Richardson beat Pickard on his blocker side to tie the game at two a piece. The Flyers were lacking the energy and speed they started the game with and it really costed them. Vinnie Hinostroza took a tripping penalty later on, and gave the Flyers the chance to take the lead back.

The Coyotes scored back-to-back shorthanded goals from Derek Stepan and Michael Grabner to put themselves ahead 4-2. Brian Elliott entered the game for Pickard, who allowed four goals on 18 shots in just over one period of work. Those shorthanded goals were scored within 24 seconds of each other in a completely embarrassing man advantage from the Flyers. The second period concluded with Philadelphia trailing Arizona, but the Flyers had 1:38 minutes left of power-play time thanks to a Kevin Connauton high-sticking penalty entering the third.

The Flyers couldn’t register a shot on this opportunity as the Coyotes killed yet another penalty to begin the third period. It didn’t take long for Philadelphia to find some life, though, as Laughton netted his second goal of the game to put the team within one. Oskar Lindblom extended his four game point streak to five with an assist on Laughton’s goal. The Flyers kept the pressure on as they generated more scoring chances, but Kuemper stood his ground.

Dale Weise would tie the game on a breakaway opportunity, scoring his first goal of the year with just over two minutes to go in the period. Shayne Gostisbehere sprung Weise for the breakaway for his sixth assist of the season. 60 minutes of hockey wasn’t enough, as the Flyers and Coyotes headed to overtime tied at four.

Gostisbehere would win the game for the Flyers in overtime 5-4, scoring his third goal of the year off a nice pass from Jakub Voracek.

The Flyers are now riding a two game win streak and earned their eighth win of the season. They now have an above .500 record for the first time since the regular season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Next game is Saturday afternoon against the Chicago Blackhawks.