After a game in which the Flyers' undisciplined nature cost them, they once again took too many penalties. That's not what burned them, however. A blown third-period lead led to their demise.
Matvei Michkov scored two goals to start the Flyers on the right foot. Heading into the third period, the Flyers seemingly had the upper hand against the Boston Bruins. They were leading 3-1 thanks to Cam York answering Trent Frederic's tally.
However, after Frederic scored his second goal, Flyers nemesis Brad Marchand scored a goal halfway through the third period to tie it. Pavel Zacha clinched the game in overtime for Boston as Philadelphia lost 4-3.
Yet Another Overtime Game
If you wanted to pay to see the Flyers this year, you are getting your money's worth. Eleven games this year have gone into overtime. A shootout determined five. It's great to grab a point in a loss. You can still keep pace with the rest of the division and conference. And let's be honest, one point is better than no points.
However, this is a game that the Flyers should have won. Alexsei Kolsov started hot. Overall, he stopped 27 of 31 shots. Despite facing off against a team that just let go of their head coach, you can never sleep on a team that stars Marchand, Zacha, and David Pastrnak. They have been better, now moving to 7-2-0 under Joe Sacco. A strong veteran team like the Bruins will make you pay. Keep them around long enough, blow a third-quarter lead, and they will strike.
Giving the Opposition Opportunities
Besides the fact that the Bruins are an experienced team going against one of the youngest teams in the NHL, there is another factor to consider. You cannot give a team like that, or any team for that matter, eight power-play chances against you. Dang! That's a lot of penalties.
To be fair, the penalty kill unit was strong, allowing just one power-play goal. However, one penalty negated the Flyers' man advantage. The first penalty was a "too many men on the ice" penalty, for which there is never an excuse. In the third period, the Flyers were down a man three times. Once included another undisciplined play, this one on Travis Konecny. That does affect what you can do offensively and helped to squish any chance the Flyers had to move in and attack. This is also not the same team that seemed to score shorthanded goals at will like last year.
The Mickhkov Train Keeps Rolling
The kid keeps coming up in big situations. The rookie scored two goals in the first period. Among them was yet another power-play goal to open up the scoring. For a team that has struggled for years on the man advantage, the fact that they have a young guy who comes up a bit in those moments matters a lot. Five power-play goals are pretty good halfway through the season.
In another stat line, Michkov is also the third teenager in Flyers history to put up three straight multipoint games. The other two: Eric Lindros and Peter Zezel. Not bad company to be in. In those three games, he has three goals and four assists. He's got 10 goals and 24 points on the season so far. With six more goals. he'll tie fellow Russian Ruslan Fedotenko for 25th all-time in goals on a season as a rookie. We'll see how far he can climb this list.
The Flyers do earn a point in this loss. That's something. They'll have a quick turnaround as they host the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday. They will also be playing Columbus and Detroit later this week.