post-2.4

The Philadelphia Flyers lost in overtime to the Utah Hockey Club, 3-2, at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday evening. A buzzer-beating goal by Dylan Guenter (18th) at 4:59 of OT decided the outcome. Earlier, Guenter tied the game in the third period.

Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson played an excellent game in a losing cause, stopping 39 of 42 shots. Utah's Karel Vejmelka made 18 saves on 20 shots. The Flyers generated 10 of their 20 shots in the first period. Utah controlled most of the final 44:59.

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission after a feisty opening 20 minutes.

After being shut out in three straight games, the Flyers broke their scoreless drought with a goal by the fourth line at 2:02 of the first period by Rodrigo Abols (1st NHL goal) with Nicolas Deslauriers screening in front. The lone assist went to Travis Sanheim. Jacob Gaucher won the puck at the blueline to start the sequence.

Through 9:09, shots on goal were 5-5. At 13:42, Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Liam O'Brien. After the two combatants sized up one another, they had a very active fight. In the closing seconds of the frame, Samuel Ersson made a spectacular save to rob Nick Bjugstad of a goal.

First period shots were 12-10 in Utah's favor. The Flyers had eight shot attempts blocked. However, defenseman Emil Andrae fired four on net.

Utah tied the game at 3:32 of the second period. The puck came out to Mikhail Sergachev (10th), who used Gaucher as a screen to direct a shot past Ersson. The assists went to Dylan Guenther and Barrett Hayton.

The Flyers responded immediately to retake the lead 57 seconds later. Sean Couturier replaced Noah Cates on a partial line change and fed Tyson Foerster (14th) at the back post. The assists at 4:29 went to Couturier and Bobby Brink.

Several shifts later, the Flyers caught a break. A shot through a Hayton screen went off the post and was covered by Ersson as he fell back into the net. At 8:46, Travis Konecny scored off the rush. Utah challenged the entry by Andrae for offside, and the goal came off the board.

Rodrigo Abols was called for a delay of game minor at 9:19. Flyers head coach John Tortorella called timeout but elected not to challenge the ruling. The Flyers staged a strong kill.

The Flyers went back to the PK at 12:26. Nick Seeler was sent off for holding O'Brien. Philly killed it off. Shortly thereafter, O'Brien was denied by Ersson on a breakaway. He'd have two one-on-one opportunities against Ersson in the period.

Sean Couturier took the Flyers third penalty of the frame when he was called for tripping at 19:38. Utah took 1:22 of carryover power play time into the third period. Shots on goal in the second period favored Utah by a wide margin (13-4).

During the carryover power play for Utah, Keller made a great setup pass to Hayton at point blank rank range. Moments thereafter, Nick Seeler prevented a potential goal. The Flyers survived the kill. With play back at 5-on-5, O'Brien was turned away again by Ersson.

Guenther (17th) knotted the score at 8:40, faking a pass and then shooting the puck past Ersson. The assists went to Hayton and Sergachev.

After scoring the tying goal, Utah pressured heavily. Ersson was forced to come up with multiple saves. The Flyers went to their first power play at 13:21 as O'Brien tripped Abols. The Flyers kept the top PP unit on the ice for nearly the full two minutes.

Third period shots on goal favored Utah by a 12-5 margin (37-19 through regulation). The match moved to 3-on-3 sudden death overtime.

In overtime, before Guenther's game winner in the final second, Ersson came up with two tough saves, including one on Keller a moment after Cates blocked an initial shot (Flyers' 20th block).

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

11 Travis Konecny - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

90 Anthony Richard - 21 Scott Laughton - 19 Garnet Hathaway

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 78 Jacob Gaucher

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim

24 Nick Seeler- 9 Jamie Drysdale

36 Emil Andrae - 77 Erik Johnson

33 Samuel Ersson

[82 Ivan Fedotov]

PP1: Drysdale, Brink, Laughton, Konecny, Michkov

PP2: Andrae, Richard, Couturier, Foerster, Sanheim

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed), 74 Owen Tippett (upper body), 5 Egor Zamula (upper body), 25 Ryan Poehling (upper body), 22 Jacob Pelletier (non-roster, not yet with team), Andrei Kuzmenko (non-roster, not yet with team).

TURNING POINT

A mental lapse in the final few seconds of OT prevented Utah from being called for an offside. Keller was able to step off the ice. Moments later, Gueunther netted the game-winner. The assists went to Sergechev and Keller.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 Things" Revisited)

1. Ending the goal drought: After being shut out in three consecutive games, the Flyers entered Tuesday's game dragging a stretch of 180:15 since their last goal. Abols put that storyline to bed quickly in the first period.

2. Between the pipes -- Ersson : The Flyers goaltender was, by leaps and bounds, Philly's best player in this game. The Swedish netminder was the main reason why the Flyers got even one point .

3. Shorthanded lineup -- all hands on deck: The Flyers played a spirited first period but increasingly struggled to keep up with Utah. The disallowed Konecny goal was something of a mini turning point, as UHC took over the game as time moved along.

4. Special teams: The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill

5. Behind enemy lines -- Clayton Keller: The crafty Utah forward was dominant over the latter half the game. He finished with 12 shot attempts (five on net) and a secondary assist on the Guenther game-winner. Simply escaping to the bench to avoid an offside call in the waning seconds proved to be a pivotal moment.