Flyers steal two points from Ottawa in overtime victory

If you didn't watch this one and only glanced at the box score, it seemed like a rather evenly played game between the Flyers and the Senators. Well, it was anything but that for the majority of the game.

Philadelphia's nine third-period shots were two more than what they had in the first two periods combined. Yes, the Flyers had three shots in the first and four shots in the second. For reference, Ottawa had 14 in both the first and second. The Flyers were heavily outplayed for much of this game.

And while Ivan Fedotov gave up four goals, he made key saves that allowed the Flyers to come back and take a 5-4 overtime victory. It was the fourth straight game that needed extra time for Philadelphia. It was Fedotov's second straight victory as he appeared to settle down after a few rough starts to begin the season.

It was the Flyers who got the scoring started in this game. Travis Sanheim has been forced to eat a ton of minutes on the backend with injuries to Cam York and Jamie Drysdale. After back-to-back 30-minute outings, Sanheim skated 28:21 and collected three points.

Noah Cates won't get an assist, but he won an important board battle that got the play started. Quick passing from Garnet Hathaway to Emil Andrae ended with a Travis Sanheim slapshot from just above the faceoff dot. It was Philadelphia's second shot of the game.

Ottawa didn't need too long to even up the score. A little under four minutes later, Brady Tkachuk was the beneficiary of a nice pass from Josh Norris. Tkachuk caught Fedotov as he was going down and squeezed it through the five-hole to tie it up.

Drake Batherson put the Senators up 2-1 in the second on a power play goal. It was the first of two on the man advantage as Ottawa finished with two goals on six opportunities. It was essentially a 5-on-3 as Ryan Poehling had his stick launched out of the zone. The Senators took advantage of the seem it created as Tim Stutzle sent it across to Batherson who one-timed it past Fedotov.

The Flyers answered again late in the second as Noah Cates sent a stretch pass to Travis Konecny who had gotten in behind the defense. And for Linus Ullmark, it can be tough when you aren't facing many shots. Philadelphia had six shots at this point with the second period winding down.

But in the third period, Ottawa looked like they were finally going to pull away. Norris put Ottawa up 3-2 less than five minutes into the third. Adam Gaudette gave their first two-goal lead on the power play midway through. After dominating for large chunks of the game, it was coming to fruition. Until it wasn't.

Two goals in 2:03 got the Flyers right back in it. First, it was Bobby Brink paying it forward to Anthony Richard. Brink chopped it over to Richard who fired it on net. Ullmark got a piece but not enough to stop it. Then it was Richard returning the favor to Brink. Richard shot the puck on Ullmark as the rebound came out to Brink, hitting off his skate, and finding the back of the net.

Someway, somehow, the Flyers tied the game. And despite the Senators getting most of the offensive play in overtime, Matvei Michkov sent Philadelphia home happy. From a tough angle, Michkov caught Ullmark off his post enough to sneak a shot past him from almost behind the goal line.

Talk about stealing one from your opponents.

Ivan Fedotov with back to back strong outings

You might say that giving up four goals does not equal a good game from a goaltender. But you likely didn't watch the game if you think that Fedotov wasn't a large reason that the Flyers won this game. He was forced to be sharp with the team in front of him unable to get sustained pressure.

It's hard to find one save that was his best as there were plenty of him. One that comes to mind is his save in the dying second of the third period. With Norris barring down on him, Fedotov kicked the right pad out and got his skate on the puck. In overtime, he had to make numerous saves as well. He picked the pad out on a Shane Pinto one-timer. Following that, he took a shot off the mask and dove on one from Norris who had deflected a floater toward the net.

The .892 SV% leaves something to be desired, but the numbers won't tell the story of the impact that Fedotov had on this game. That's back-to-back games in which Fedotov helped the Flyers win a game. A good sign to see.

Anthony Richard makes his case

Richard played well during the preseason, but a numbers game saw him go down to the Phantoms. When Ryan Poehling was nicked up and placed on IR, Richard was given the chance. As the leading scorer in Lehigh Valley, the Flyers wanted to see him carry that into the NHL.

In four games, Richard has two goals and four points. He has a three-game point streak after not registering one in his first game. It might be hard for the Flyers to send him back to the AHL. He has remained in the lineup since Poehling has come back. His play forced Morgan Frost to the bench last game, though the latter's poor play was a factor as well.

His speed is evident and it played a role in the Flyers' third and fourth goals. Richard crossed over to the far side of the ice as Egor Zamula carried the puck in. Nobody saw Richard on the other side of the ice, allowing Brink to chip the puck over and catch and catch the speedy forward in stride. Ullmark, who had a tough night, will want that one back.

On the tying goal, Richard turned the jets on in the neutral zone and took an angle into the zone. He fired a shot from the faceoff dot which created a rebound for Brink. It was a lucky bounce off Brink's skate, but Richard's speed created the opportunity in the first place.

Richard is doing what the Flyers wanted him to do. He's providing a spark in the bottom-six and is earning one game after another.

With a victory and points in four straight games, the Flyers return home for five games. They'll start with Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.