Flyers Comeback Falls Short As Penguins Walk Away With OT Win

The Philadelphia Flyers fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime on road ice.

Aiming to stay hot after the All-Star break and extend their win streak to three games, the Philadelphia Flyers went to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins in the second half of a home-and-home series. Both teams were vying for another crucial two points as the Eastern Conference playoff race continues to be as close as ever, with the Flyers sitting one point out of a Wild Card spot and Pittsburgh ranking second in the Metro. Brian Elliott received the start in net for the Orange and Black, opposing Tristan Jarry on the opposite end of the rink.

As was expected with two teams coming off of bye weeks, there was a bit of a feeling-out process to begin the opening frame. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh combined for just three shots on goal (SOG) in the first seven minutes, giving Elliott and Jarry a smooth transition back into regular-season play after an over week-long break. Things never really picked up offensively at even strength as the period went on, but a power-play goal from Jakub Voracek put the Flyers in front 1-0 after one. Matt Niskanen made a tremendous pass to find Voracek near the crease, giving Jake a wide-open net to shoot for his 11th tally of the season.

Pittsburgh applied a solid amount of pressure on the Flyers to begin the second and eventually cashed in on it. Evgeni Malkin was the recipient of some unfortunate puck luck for Philadelphia as it bounced around the front of the crease and found its way onto the centerman’s stick for the slam-dunk goal.

Bryan Rust followed that up with a tally of his own, this time on the man advantage, quickly gifting the Penguins with a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia had several opportunities to clear the zone during this shorthanded stint but failed in doing so, almost immediately resulting in Rust’s 22nd of the season. Kris Letang extended the advantage to two with a sharp-angle goal on the power play, but Tyler Pitlick got it back after Niskanen kept the puck in the attacking zone, making it a 3-2 affair heading into the third.

After failing to capitalize on an abbreviated power play in the early stages of the third, Philly found the equalizer courtesy of Scott Laughton, who deflected a Kevin Hayes shot passed Jarry for his seventh on the year. From there on, the Flyers took it to the Penguins, carrying a 17-4 SOG advantage when all was said and done in the stanza. Unfortunately, zero of those shots turned into a second third-period goal for Philly as the game needed overtime, where Sidney Crosby scored the game-winner to give his side the 4-3 W.

All in all, I liked what I saw out of the Flyers in this one. While it resulted in a loss, the team dug down deep after falling in a two-goal hole in the second, fought back with a dominant third-period performance to bring the contest to OT. They couldn’t have done so without the efforts of Pitlick, who’s two-point night drove the comeback attempt and ultimately earned Philadelphia a point in their first post-All-Star break game.

The Flyers are now 27-17-7 on the year. Next game is Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.