Travis Sanheim scores OT winner in the Flyers victory over Boston

The Philadelphia Flyers came into the TD Garden hoping to get their sixth straight win as they took on the Boston Bruins.

Winning streaks are the best, aren’t they? I personally think the Philadelphia Flyers should keep with this whole “winning” and “beating other teams” thing, it’s very fun to watch. Anyways, the Orange and Black went to Boston to take on the Bruins for the final time this season.

Carter Hart received the start from Interim Head Coach Scott Gordon and opposed Tuukka Rask in-net. Rask has been his usual self so far this year, boasting a 2.43 Goals-Against Average with a .919 save percentage. The Flyers had to bring an offensive punch, especially on the power-play, in order to get their sixth straight victory.

Philadelphia basically started the game on the penalty-kill, tripping David Pastrnak over a minute in the period to put themselves against the second best power-play unit in the league. Boston showed why they ranked that high coming in with a nice passing display to set up the man they call Pasta for a one goal lead. There was nothing Hart could do as Pastrnak absolutely sniped the puck on a perfect one-time shot.

The Flyers were getting dominated for most of the period, but came alive after Claude Giroux showcased a nice shot to beat Rask on a breakaway attempt to tie the game at one a piece late. Both teams were still tied going into the first intermission and Philadelphia needed to build off the momentum their captain created.

Boston regained the lead early in the middle stanza on Pastrnak’s second tally of the night. The Flyers did a good job of applying pressure at the start, but the Bruins were the ones who converted on their chances to put themselves ahead. Rask continued his strong play between the crease and it was still a 2-1 game heading into the third.

The Flyers kept on applying the pressure as the final period of regulation began but the longtime NHL net-minder still had none of it. Scott Laughton even received a penalty-shot after getting sprung for a partial breakaway but again, Rask said no. It wasn’t until Philadelphia got their first power-play opportunity of the game for all that to change.

Oskar Lindblom scored on the man advantage to tie the game at two for the Flyers. He slammed the puck home on a pass from Jakub Voracek for his seventh goal of the season and second in two games. Neither team would find the back of the net as the third period came to a close as the game needed extra time to crown a winner. Travis Sanheim went on to snipe the puck passed Rask during a four-on-three power-play and won the game for the Flyers.

This was a great show of resiliency from the Orange and Black. They trailed not once, but twice throughout the game just to tie and eventually win the it in overtime. Sanheim’s tally was one of the best of his young career and I would expect to only see more from him as time goes on. He also had two points on the night, putting him at 17 points this season. Hart made some key saves, too, which was another big factory in this victory.

The Flyers are now 22-23-6 on the year. Next game is Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers.