The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets via shootout, 2-1 (1-0), at Canada Life Centre on Saturday evening. Matvei Michkov netted the winning shootout attempt.
The Flyers got off to a strong start, generating six of the game's first seven shots on goal. However, the Jets made it 1-0 on their second shot.
At 9:58, the Jets got a favorable bounce as the puck went off the stick of Gabriel Vilardi and went directly to Mark Scheifele at the left hash marks. From there, Scheifele (34th goal of the season) fired a shot past Ivan Fedotov. The assists went to Vilardi and Kyle Connor.
Fedotov made a pair of important saves to keep the deficit at 1-0: first on Nikolaj Ehlers and then on Rasmus Kupari. The Flyers went to the power play at 14:52 and Cole Perfetti was sent off for slashing the stick out of Cam York's hands.
Shortly thereafter, Fedotov had to stop a shorthanded scoring bid by Connor. In transition, Matvei Michkov was stopped by Connor Hellebuyck. Late in the power play, Tyson Foerster had a prime chance.
At 17:07, Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves with gargantuan Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley. The Jets made a mini-push late in the period and took a 1-0 edge to intermission. Shots on goal favored the Flyers, 14-7.
The Flyers tied the game at 3:48 of the second period. Jamie Drysdale (3rd goal of the season) slipped past Vilardi on a pass from Cates down to the right circle. With all sorts of time and space, Drysdale fired a slot shot off the post and into the net. Cates and Nick Seeler collected the apples.
Two shifts later, Fedotov made a full extension pad save to deny Perfetti from the near the right post. At 7:50, Fedotov gloved down an Adam Lowry shot from the deep center slot.
In the final minute of the middle frame, Hellebuyck stoned Travis Konecny on the breakaway after the Jets turned the puck over at the offensive blueline. On the next shift, the Flyers nearly executed a backdoor play with Owen Tippett driving to the far side post.
Second period shots were 14-13 Flyers (28-19 Flyers through two periods). Faceoffs were basically even through 40 minutes with the Jets winning 19 to 18 for the Flyers.
Four minutes into the third period, Hellebuyck made a flashy glove save on Bobby Brink from the right slot after a nice setup pass from Andrei Kuzmenko. It was Hellebuyck's 30th save of the game.
At 14:27, Drysdale was called for tripping Morgan Barron behind the Flyers' net. The Jets went on their first power play. Fedotov made a big glove save on Ehlers from the left slot. The Flyers killed off the rest of the penalty with authority, including a key block by York.
Ristolainen was called for hooking at 17:24. The Flyers staged another strong kill to get the game into the final minute of regulation tied at 1-1. Foerster had a scoring chance in the final half minute. The game went to OT.
Third period shots on goal were 8-3 Jets (31-27 Flyers through regulation). Faceoffs in regulation favored Winnipeg, 27-22.
Overtime started with Winnipeg controlling the puck for the first 1:46 before a stoppage of play. Couturier won the ensuing defensive zone draw and the Flyers moved up ice. At the other end, Connor came within a whisker of winning the game but was blocked by Cates. OT shots were 4-1 Jets.
Fedotov delivered an excellent game in net, stopping 30 of 31 shots in regulation and OT before going 3-for-3 in the shootout. Hellebuyck made 31 saves on 32 shots through 65 minutes before going 1-for-2 in the shootout.
The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov
71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
96 Andrei Kuzmenko - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 22 Jakob Pelletier
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
82 Ivan Fedotov
[35 Aleksei Kolosov]
Scratches: 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body), 77 Erik Johnson (healthy), 33 Samuel Ersson (healthy).
PP1: Ristolainen, Konecny, Laughton, Kuzmenko, Michkov
PP2: Drysdale, Foerster, Cates, Brink, Sanheim
TURNING POINT
The shootout unfolded as follows:
1st round: Scheifele was unable to wrist a low glove shot past Fedotov. Konecny attempted a flip shot but put it right to Hellebuyck.
2nd round: Connor hurried a shot as he saw Fedotov about to attempt a poke check but could not score through the five hole. In the bottom of the round, Michkov deked, moved to his right and then elevated a backhander over Hellebuyck.
3rd round: Vilardi had the puck roll off his stick and wide of the left post to end the game.
POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)
1. Solving Hellebuyck: The Flyers tested the Vezina Trophy candidate numerous times. Drysdale went off the post-and-in for the lone regulation goal. It wasn't until Michkov notched the shootout winner that a Flyer truly beat Hellebuyck outright.
2. Flyers centers: The Flyers rolled three lines at 5-on-5 most of the night. Noah Cates' line was on the ice for the Scheifele goal but more than made up for it as the night progressed. In fact, every line contributed in different ways to the effort against the team atop the President's Trophy race.
3. Playing with discipline: The Flyers did a masterful job of keeping the NHL's top-ranked power play off the ice until late in the third period. Then the Flyers took back-to-back penalties. Fortunately, the PK stepped up and delivered the team's 11th and 12th consecutive successful kills.
4. Flyers transition game: The Flyers had a solid handful of transition chances during the game, including Konecny's breakaway chance. The lone goal, however, came on a good play up high in the offensive zone by Cates and Drysdale finishing it off.
Lineup Changes - Replicating Hathaway's energy: The Flyers were credited with 28 hits for the game and the penalty kill delivered when needed. Mission accomplished on this night despite the absence of Garnet Hathaway.
