The Philadelphia Flyers stormed their way back after trailing 2-0 early in the second period to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 3-2.
Steven Stamkos scored two power play goals in 2:40 to start the second period but the Flyers remained hungry, confident, and most importantly tenacious as they didn’t let the Lightning take this game away.
The second half of the game was a masterclass of sorts as the Flyers truly took over and minimized the Lightning’s efforts and although the shot clock would say otherwise (39-24), it was a great team win again. It’s their third comeback win of the season, second comeback win after trailing by 2 or more goals in as many games, and Noah Cates was the hero with the game-winner late in the third period. Carter Hart was spectacular again making 37 saves, James van Riemsdyk scored the game tying goal on the power play, and Scott Laughton got the Flyers on the board first.
FIRST PERIOD
Tampa Bay’s home opener almost started with a bang after Brayden Point almost went end-to-end, only 1:30 into the game. Weaving in and out of the Flyers lineup, it seemed like Egor Zamula and Nick Seeler were both confused as to who was going to take the man and in that split second, Point went through the middle and was stopped by Carter Hart before crashing into the net. The net came off its moorings and Hart looked a little shaken up as he skated towards the end boards after the play to stretch out whatever was ailing him. Only a few minutes later, Point had a shot in the slot blocked by a defender and then had another shot in the slot stopped by the pad of Hart – both plays set up by Nikita Kucherov from his office in the corner.
The pressure from the Lightning offense was relentless to start this game as they had a 8-1 shot advantage nine minutes in. The Flyers’ Wade Allison recorded the first shot of the festivities 20 seconds after puck drop and then the Lightning just took over.
At times it felt like they were on a power play and seemingly noticing this pressure and momentum, Nicolas Deslauriers tried to stop it as he decided to drop the gloves with Patrick Maroon in his second bout in as many games.
Really finding it difficult to traverse the Lightning defense, the Flyers finally had a few chances of their own from Jackson Cates and Egor Zamula before drawing a penalty from an Ian Cole hooking minor.
The Flyers had plenty of offensive zone time but had trouble completing crisp passes, and in doing so were only able to create one scoring chance. However, the Deslauriers fight seemed to have served it’s purpose as the Flyers started to slowly tip the scales in their favour as the Lightning didn’t record a shot on goal for well over 9 minutes before Corey Perry took a simple shot upon entering the offensive zone that was swallowed up by Carter Hart.
The last solid chance before the period ended came from a Brandon Hagel shot in the slot that was stopped by the shoulder of Hart with only a few seconds remaining. Overall, it was a good finish to the period for the Flyers after the 8-1 shot advantage that was held by Tampa Bay in the first half, as they climbed their way back into the game and the shot clock – 6 shots to Tampa Bay’s 10.
SECOND PERIOD
A minute into the second period, Travis Konecny was called for a hooking minor, giving the Lightning their first man advantage of the game and unfortunately for the Flyers it only took them 35 seconds to score. Steven Stamkos doing Steven Stamkos things as he ripped a slap-shot through the five hole of a diving Carter Hart to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead early in the second period. The Lightning were inches away from making it a 2-0 lead with Corey Perry whacking away at a loose puck in the blue paint and amidst all the drama, Perry dropped the gloves with Justin Braun as things started to heat up really quickly. The Lighting were given another power play out of the scrum as Zack MacEwen, who was just brought into the lineup, was called for a roughing minor.
With 20 seconds left on the power play, Steven Stamkos scored an eerily identical goal from his office to make it 2-0. The Flyers were rather passive and looked stuck in a box around Carter Hart, allowing Nikita Kucherov of all people all the time in the world to look for the perfect pass across to Stamkos. Missing the exact same chance 10 seconds prior, Stamkos made no mistake the second time. 2 power play goals, both by Stamkos, 2 minutes and 40 seconds apart.
9:17 into the period, the Flyers buried a rebound goal past a diving Andrei Vasilevskiy to get the Orange and Black on the board and back into the game. The Lightning took a quick 9-2 shot advantage in the period before the Flyers’ Scott Laughton buried a wide open shot after Vasilevskiy made the initial stop off a Morgan Frost opportunity.
Laughton’s second goal of the season seemed to have given the Flyers some kind of a spark as they started to create dangerous scoring chances but Vasilevskiy shut the door. Their best chance outside of Laughton’s goal was after Travis Konecny won the puck on a board battle, set up Kevin Hayes in the slot, and the one-time opportunity was padded aside by “The Cat”.
The Flyers were creating pressure and mounting momentum of their own but they weren’t able to get shots towards the net or through the Lightning defense as the held a distinct 24-13 advantage with a few minutes left in the period. The Lightning however were humming all over the ice and especially in the offensive zone, but Carter Hart was doing his best Vasilevskiy impersonation by shutting the door for his team.
Brandon Hagel had a glorious opportunity to give his team a 3-1 lead but Hart not only stopped the initial slap-shot but also Hagel’s net-front slam. The scoring chances kept coming as Stamkos, Perry, and Vladislav Namestnikov were all robbed in and around the blue paint with only a minute or so left in the period.
THIRD PERIOD
25 seconds into the third period the Flyers were able to draw a penalty as Stamkos was called for a hooking minor against Noah Cates.
The Flyers won the draw right off the bat, gained possession, and didn’t lose it before scoring the goal that tied the game up at 2. Kevin Hayes was holding, holding, holding before firing the shot through traffic and it found some room through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole after a James van Riemsdyk deflection.
The Lightning sat back as Hayes was holding the puck, setting them in a lull, before firing the shot that had the faintest of tips. Only a few minutes later, the Flyers were close to taking their first lead of the game but a streaking Joel Farabee was robbed by the outstretched pad of Vasilevskiy. Hayes sent a stretch pass to Konecny, who brought the defenseman Nate Perbix over to him, and that left Farabee all alone with a perfect saucer pass but Vasilevskiy read him all the way through to keep the game tied.
Zack MacEwen was called for his second minor of the game, this time an abhorrent holding call that took away a glorious scoring opportunity for Noah Cates, who picked off a pass from Kucherov. The Flyers killed off the penalty with a near perfect kill, which was instrumental in keeping them in the game and gain more momentum and confidence – something the coaching staffed sensed was a huge killer last season.
Noah Cates, who had a chance nullified earlier, pressured Mikhail Sergachev and then forced Erik Cernak into a turnover right in front of the goaltender, where Cates turned around a ripped a shot past a surprised Vasilevskiy to give the Flyers their first lead of the game.
With just under 3 minutes to go in regulation, van Riemsdyk set up MacEwen with a beautiful saucer pass over the outstretched defenseman but Vasilevskiy was able to get his pad on the deflection to keep the game within 1.
With 1:47 left, the Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy for the extra attacker and even though they sustained offensive zone pressure, the passes were all kept to the outside and most of the shot attempts were blocked away. Carter Hart iced the game with a save he made with 1.2 seconds left on Steven Stamkos of all players. After taking a timeout with 1.6 seconds left, Noah Cates won the faceoff and then fell on top of the puck, ending the game and giving the Flyers their 3rd win of the season in as many games.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will continue their road trip tomorrow against the Florida Panthers at 7:30pm ET at FLA Live Arena.
