The Philadelphia Flyers had no business defeating the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night, but luck is sometimes part of the battle. Ivan Fedotov made a career-high 33 saves on 37 shots, standing on his head at times to keep the Flyers in the game and earn his second NHL win.
Ottawa significantly outplayed the Flyers for the overwhelming majority of the contest, as Philadelphia failed to record more than nine shots on goal in any period. Through two periods, the Senators were winning the shot battle 28-7.
Fortunately, the Flyers found their shooting sticks and got to work.
Travis Sanheim gave the Orange and Black an early 1-0 lead with a quick-twitch one-timer on the pass from Emil Andrae. After falling into a 2-1 hole, Travis Konecny found twine with an expertly placed wrist shot on a breakaway with just over a minute left in the second period.
Sam Ersson Injured Again; Maligned Flyers Goalie Must Prove Himself
Josh Norris and Adam Gaudette scored two unfortunate goals against Fedotov early on in the third period, seemingly putting the nail in the coffin for the Flyers.
That is, until Anthony Richard and Bobby Brink created some magic in rapid succession.
Merely 37 seconds after Gaudette gave the Senators a 4-2 lead, Brink’s touch to Egor Zamula’s pass knocked the puck towards Anthony Richard, who was a little fortunate to see his one-timer squeak through Senators goalie Linus Ullmark.
On their next shift, just two minutes later, Brink and Richard ran it back to tie the score. Richard’s centering pass on the rush deflected off Brink, who failed to make a clean connection with the puck, tying the game at 4-4.
Ivan Fedotov steals another game for the Flyers
In the dying seconds of the third period, Fedotov was forced to make a 10-bell right pad save on Norris, who powered to the net with a backhand-forehand move with under a minute to go.
The Flyers were lucky to force overtime after losing the shot battle all night long, but they kept playing, as did Fedotov.
The 27-year-old produced three more stunning saves in the extra frame. Robbing Shane Pinto on a one-timer from the low slot after getting a strong left-to-right push off his left skate was the greatest among them.
“He played really good,” head coach John Tortorella said of Fedotov after the game.
At the other end, of course, Matvei Michkov did the rest.
Michkov received the puck in the right corner of the offensive zone from Konecny, angling himself towards Ullmark and banking a trick shot from an impossible angle to win the game at 5-4.
After winning a second game in a row and earning a point in four straight, Flyers will be back in action on Saturday with a home date with the Buffalo Sabres at 7 p.m.
