Maybe the toughest opponent the Philadelphia Flyers have faced so far this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning came into town unbeaten in regulation in their last 8 games (5-0-3).
The Flyers opened the game up with the first two goals in the first ten minutes of the game. It seemed like the Flyers were destined to break out of their slump, but the Lightning chimed in with three unanswered goals before the Flyers tied it in the dying seconds.
The Flyers fought valiantly in overtime but fell quickly in the shootout, 4-3 (2-0).
With Patrick Brown sidelined week-to-week with a thumb injury, Oskar Lindblom was always going to be his replacement but it was fitting that he came back into the lineup after a one-game absence on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
It was mentioned earlier in the day that Max Willman was going to be an emergency call-up, but who he was going to replace remained a mystery. Alain Vigneault mentioned prior to puck drop that both Cam Atkinson and Kevin Hayes would be playing, which left Travis Konecny potentially questionable after all the rough stuff he had to endure during the Calgary Flames game on Tuesday.
It turned out to be Hayes who would miss the game and Vigneault’s pregame line shuffles reappeared. It was believed to be Claude Giroux with Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk and Derick Brassard with Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson.
However, the changes were evident off the first shift as Giroux found himself with Brassard and Atkinson, and it led to a beautiful breakaway goal for the captain to make it 1-0.
A broken play in the neutral zone after a stretch pass by Rasmus Ristolainen lead to a mini-collision between Atkinson and a Tampa Bay Lightning defender. Brassard quickly found a streaking Giroux, who split the defense and found himself all alone with Andrei Vasilevskiy. He undressed the goaltender with a great fake and put the offensively struggling Flyers ahead 1-0, under 2 minutes into the game.
Travis Konecny extended the lead to 2-0 after a great block in the defensive zone. Cal Foote tried dumping the puck in deeper but it hit Konecny’s skate and popped out of the zone, and he was off to the races on an odd-man rush. With the Flyers counter-attacking brilliantly, they were on a 3-on-1 rush and Konecny smartly took the shot and scored blocker side on Vasilevskiy.
All of a sudden the Flyers matched their goals per game average in their last 11 games in the first 10 minutes of the game.
The Flyers were the opportunistic team in this one after the first period as they were outshot 13-5 by the Lightning. Their counter-attack game was on full fledge as both goals came off the rush. Carter Hart, unsurprisingly, was on top of his game yet again, thwarting any chances the Lightning threw at him.
After killing off a late first period penalty from Rasmus Ristolainen, the Flyers found themselves shorthanded on the very next shift after Justin Braun was called for tripping off the face-off. Unlike the first penalty kill, the Flyers couldn’t get control of the puck and it only took the Lightning 22 seconds to find the back of the net.
Steven Stamkos threw a fake shot-pass to Brayden Point in the slot and had Hart fooled as he bit for the cross-seam pass. Constant pressure and great passing lead to this goal and Point was able to flip this one past Hart to cut the deficit to 1.
With continuous pressure all period long, it was inevitable that the Lightning were going to tie the game. Midway through the second period, the Lightning had a 48-18 advantage in shot attempts.
The Flyers were struggling to maintain any possession and off a simple face-off win, Killorn threw the puck towards Hart. It deflected off Justin Braun’s stick and right to Mathieu Joseph, who tucked it into the net.
The pressure continued and the Lightning kept mounting, but Carter Hart kept the door shut for as long as he could. The Flyers came close near the end of the period as Atkinson batted a puck off the post and accrued a late power play.
The third period was rather even and it was the Flyers’ best period where they were able to establish offensive pressure.
Vasilevskiy was standing his ground and as the period was winding down with under two minutes to go, Stamkos beat Hart with a terrible angle shot that just squeaked by. It was a demoralizing goal to give up but after everything Hart has done so far, the Flyers owed him this one; and luckily they came through.
The Lightning, with a 3-2 lead with less than two minutes to go, seemed destined to win this one with momentum shifting. However, the Flyers with the goalie pulled had several chances but couldn’t get past the screens and diving bodies.
With 8.1 seconds to go, Claude Giroux ripped a shot past Vasilevskiy, tying the game and giving the Flyers at least one point in a tight game against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Overtime went by as quickly as five minutes ever could. There were no whistles and constant end-to-end hockey, however both goalies stood their ground and took it to a shootout.
The Flyers’ best chance came on a breakaway from Atkinson but Vasilevskiy followed him the entire way.
Shootouts have been the bane of the Flyers’ existence since it was implemented in 2005. For the second time this season, the Flyers missed their first two shots and allowed the two shots they faced, ending the shootout as quickly as possible. Both opportunities from Couturier and Giroux were simple saves for Vasilevskiy.
Claude Giroux scored twice for the Flyers, bringing his total to 7. Travis Konecny added another, while Derick Brassard recorded the only assists in the game (2). Carter Hart stopped 29 of 32 shots.
Steven Stamkos recorded a goal and an assist, Mathieu Joseph and Brayden Point added goals themselves, while Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman recorded 2 assists. Vasilevskiy stopped 27 of 30 shots thrown his way and the Lightning got goals from Stamkos and Point in the shootout.
Up next for the Flyers are the visiting Boston Bruins on Saturday.
