The Philadelphia Flyers blew a two-goal lead as the Los Angeles Kings stormed back once again to earn the season series sweep with a 5-4 victory.
Kevin Fiala opened the scoring before the Flyers got goals from Tyson Foerster and Scott Laughton to take the lead. However, Adrian Kempe re-tied the game before the first period ended.
Matvei Michkov and Joel Farabee then tallied within 2 minutes and 39 seconds in the second period to take a 2-goal lead, but unfortunately that was all she wrote for the Flyers offense as Warren Foegele scored a late goal in the second before Anže Kopitar scored twice in the third for the win.
Aleksei Kolosov allowed 5 goals on 20 shots while David Rittich earned his 11th win of the season despite allowing 4 goals on 21 shots.
Off the heels of a 3-1 victory in Saturday afternoon’s affair against the Anaheim Ducks, the Flyers visited the Kings for a chance at revenge after they took the earlier meeting in Philadelphia by a score of 7-3.
There was a possibility that Matvei Michkov was going to be scratched for this one after being benched for the entirety of the third period on Saturday, but John Tortorella addressed the issue and said he would indeed be suiting up.
Outside of that news, the Flyers didn’t alter their lineup with the lone exception coming in between the pipes with Aleksei Kolosov getting the call over Samuel Ersson after he played against the Ducks. Kolosov held his own when he played the Kings earlier in the season before a third period barrage changed the outcome in a hurry.
As for the Kings, they entered Sunday’s game having gone 6-2-2 over their last 10 games and jumped back into the win column with a victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
David Rittich got the call in goal with Darcy Kuemper occupying the crease against Edmonton as he looked to improve on his 10-8-0 record, 2.46 GAA, and .891 SV%. Anže Kopitar continued to pace the club with 27 assists and 37 points, Adrian Kempe led the way with 16 goals, and Alex Laferriere rounded out the top-3 with 25 points.
FIRST PERIOD
The Kings got the game’s opening goal just 5:15 into the first period after Kevin Fiala roofed a one-timer over Kolosov’s shoulder for his 14th of the season. Alex Laferriere found Fiala from behind the net and his shot from the faceoff dot found daylight with Kolosov camped a little too deep in his crease.
Noah Cates was then assessed a tripping minor against Adrian Kempe but Kyle Burroughs retaliated and earned himself a roughing minor to even things out. With 27 seconds left on the 4-on-4, the Flyers tied the game after Tyson Foerster finished his breakaway attempt through Rittich’s five-hole at the 8:17 mark.
Cam York found Foerster with a great stretch pass before the youngster spun around the Kings defenseman to give him more separation. The goal represented his 10th of the year and his 6th goal and 11th point over his last 14 contests.
With 5:51 remaining, the Flyers took their first lead of the game after Scott Laughton batted a puck down with his arm and then finished it off with his stick after a Matvei Michkov setup. His initial pass went off the side of the net before Laughton – who snuck behind 5 black and grey jerseys – batted it down for his 8th of the season. The assist also snapped the rookie’s 7-game point drought.
The Kings then tied things back up after Kempe ripped a one-timer from the slot past Kolosov low-glove side with just 3:06 remaining for his team-leading 17th goal of the season. It was a slightly broken play as Kopitar fumbled the initial pass but it bounced off his skate and was picked up by Brandt Clarke as he aggressively joined the rush en route to the goal.
The period came to a close with both clubs tied at 2 apiece on the scoreboard and 6-6 on the shot-clock.
SECOND PERIOD
With 8:57 remaining in the middle frame, Michkov grabbed his 12th goal of the season after banking a shot from below the goal line off the skate of Rittich. Rasmus Ristolainen drove hard towards the net and his rebound then went to Laughton whose shot went high and wide, which then allowed Michkov to corral the puck behind the net and catch Rittich off guard.
Less than three minutes later, the Flyers doubled their lead with Joel Farabee crashing the net for his 6th of the season. Ryan Poehling set up Garnet Hathaway who used his body to get to the front of the net. He attempted to pass it to Farabee for the one-timer but Rittich got his stick on the puck, however that worked in the Flyers’ favour as Farabee buried the rebound before the net came off it’s mooring.
The Kings then clawed their way back with Warren Foegele taking advantage of an egregious turnover from Travis Konecny. His no-look behind the back pass at the Kings’ blue-line was scooped up by the veteran whose breakaway was initially stopped before burying his own rebound.
The period came to a close with the Flyers ahead 4-3 with the Kings taking a slight edge on the shot-clock at 15-13 (9-7 in the middle period).
THIRD PERIOD
Similarly to their last matchup, Kopitar had his fingerprints all over this one, including the game-tying goal (once again) in the third period. The initial slap shot from the point was stopped but the rebound kicked out to Kopitar on the side, deflected off the top of his stick, and just crossed the line with 13:16 remaining.
With 11:10 left on the board, Travis Sanheim was called for a hooking minor, sending the Kings onto the first power play of the night. It took Los Angeles just 4 seconds to score with the extra skater courtesy of Kopitar. The veteran won the faceoff and went straight to the net as Kempe gathered the puck at the point. His shot was eventually deflected as the L.A. captain earned his 12th of the season and second of the game within minutes.
At the 11:39 mark, both Michkov and Quinton Byfield were assessed minor penalties, sending both teams back to 4-on-4 hockey. With 18 seconds remaining, Kempe was nailed for an interference minor, giving the Flyers a chance to set up their first power play of the night. Unfortunately, the Flyers looked completely lost, somehow outmanned, and outmuscled while up a player.
The Flyers pulled their netminder for the extra attacker with 2:42 remaining to no avail as they weren’t able to do much with the sixth skater. After holding a two-goal lead, the Flyers once again fell into a lull against the Kings, who stormed back with a strong third period.
UP NEXT
The Flyers head to San Jose on New Year’s Eve to take on the Sharks in their final contest of the 2024 calendar year (8:00pm; NBCSP).
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