POSTGAME 5: Flyers Beat Blackhawks, 4-3

It wasn't pretty but the Philadelphia Flyers prevailed, 4-3, in a seesaw game at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers led 1-0, trailed 2-1 and 3-2 In a feisty third period, the Flyers pulled even and then went ahead.

The Blackhawks remain winless in the regular season in Philadelphia since defeating the home team on Nov. 9, 1996. Since then, the Flyers have gone 17-0-0 at home against Chicago.
Oskar Lindblom (9th goal of the season) gave the Flyers an early 1-0 lead. Alex DeBrincat (31st) tied the game on a snipe off a faceoff in the opening half-minute of the second period. Dyan Strome (10th) gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at 12:39. Cam Atkinson (19th) briefly drew the Flyers even at 2-2 but Strome (11th) scored again shortly thereafter to put the Blackhawks ahead again. 3-2.
In the third period, Derick Brassard (5th) re-tied the score, making it 3-3 at 3:09. Atkinson (20th) notched his second of the game five-plus minutes later to put the Flyers back in the driver's seat with a 4-3 lead.
Martin Jones stopped26 of 29 shots to earn the victory. Kevin Lankinen absorbed the loss with 23 saves on 27 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. Chicago went 0-for-1.
TURNING POINT
Brassard mostly struggled in his first few games in the lineup. Thursday's game against Minnesota was especially rough and included a very costly turnover in the final five seconds of the first period. The next morning, Brassard went to interim head coach Mike Yeo and pledged that he'd have an immediate bounceback. Early in the third period on Saturday, Brassard evened up the game at 3-3 after the Flyers went off to the second period trailing after a very sloppy middle frame.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Making his return to the Flyers' lineup, Kevin Hayes had the game's first scoring chance two minutes into the first period. Lankinen made the save at the doorstep. At 4:46, the Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead. From the slot, Lindblom redirected Travis Sanheim's center point shot into the net. Hayes earned the secondary assist.

The Flyers got the game's first power play. Connor Murphy was called for interfering with Claude Giroux in front of the Chicago net at 6:12. Hayes was denied from the slot after a giveaway by Brandon Hagel right onto his stick. Shots on goal for the period were 7-2 at the time the penalty expired at 8:12.
Max Willman was joined on a 2-on-1 rush by Giroux near the midpoint of the first period. With Seth Jones defending the passing lane, Willman elected to shoot from just below the right dot. Lankinen made the stop.
Willman went to the net an tried to follow up a Kevin Brown shot from the mid center slot. Lankinen stopped both attempts, Shots were 11-3 Flyers as the whistle blew at 12:51.
Jones made a tough save on a Patrick Kane shot deflected on net by Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome lurking in front with 5;06 remaining in the first period.
At 16:16, Jones slid across his crease to make a good save off a cross-ice feed to Strome in the right circle.
In the final seconds of the opening period, the Blackhawks nearly scored a buzzer beating backdoor goal. Riley Stillman slipped in behind Travis Konecny and had net to the short side but hit the post.
2) First period shots on goal ended up 12-10 Flyers after being lopsided in their favor mid-period. Philadelphia had 18 of 28 shot attempts (64.29 percent team Corsi) and eight of the 12 scoring chances with three of the four high-danger chances. All of that territorial edge was nearly negated by the breakdown off the late faceoff.
3) The Blackhawks tied the game at 1-1 just 24 seconds into the second period. Toews won a faceoff cleanly to DeBrincat, who snapped a shot over Jones.
Philly went to their second power play of the game at 3:50 of the second period after Chicago was called for too many men on the ice. Rasmus Ristolainen, stationed down low on PP, had two cracks at a goal from the doorstep.
Shots on goal in the second period were 5-5 when the Flyers iced the puck at 9:45. A 3-on-2 for the Flyers fizzled out when a Scott Laughton shot was blocked out of play at 10:48.
The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead at 12:39 on a counterattacking goal from their own end of the ice. Kubalik passed to Patrick Kane, who fed across the ice and found Strome moving down the slot. Strome made no mistake.
With 5:57 remaining, Kane had a semi-breakaway from the blueline with Yandle in close pursuit. Jones made the stop.
Derick Brassard took exception to rough treatment from Stillman at the whistle and after-the-whistle scrum broke out at 15;09. Brassard won the next faceoff and the Flyers controlled. Shortly thereater, Atkinson dropped a pass to Joel Farabee and went to the net. Receiving the return feed on the give-and-go, Atkinson stashed it in the open right side of the net at 15:28. Hostilities resumed right after the goal and the Blackhawks got two penalties -- de Haan and Toews for roughing to a roughing minor on Brassard. The Flyers went to the power play. Philly generated no pressure.

Chicago scored on the next shift after 5-on-5 play resumed. A Justin Braun pass out to Willman at the blue line was immediately taken off Willman's stick by Strome. After Strome's shot was blocked by Braun, the Chicago center reclaimed it. Strome promptly scored an unassisted goal at 18:02 to restore the lead for Chicago at 3-2. Immediately after the ensuing center ice faceoff, Giroux had an open look at the net from the slot but fired wide.
4) Second period shots on goal were 12-7 Chicago (22-19 Blackhawks through 40 minutes), Overall shot attempts were 19-18 Flyers but Chicago put three of theirs in the net to one for the Flyers. Scoring chances were 12-8 Chicago but 4-4 in terms of high-danger opportunities.The Flyers had a 2.02 to 1.42 edge in
"expected goals" through 40 minutes but the Blackhawks had the 3-2 edge in actual goals.
5) The Flyers scored off the rush to make it a 3-3 game at 3:09. Farabee passed to Atkinson, who went cross-ice to an open Brassard. Brassard's shot tricked through Lankinen and just over the goal before Farabee jammed into the back of the net to be sure.
Shots were 4-3 Flyers through 7:36 as a The Flyers regained the lead two shifts later . In the neutral zone, Atkinson took the puck away from Kubaliik. In the attack zone, Atkinson received a pass from Farabee and, from high in the zone, fired a shot that beat Lankinen upstairs at 8:26.
Well behind the play at 11:01, Kevin Connauton was felled along the side boards in the Flyers zone by a late, high hit by Dach, who led with his elbow. The hit was a retaliation for a hit by Connauton on Dach shortly beforehand. Dach did not receive an on-ice penalty but potentially might face supplementary discipline from the NHL after the video is reviewed.
At 11:21, Atkinson was denied a wraparound attempt for a hat trick.
Tempers flared again after a whistle in the Flyers' zone at 11:49. It started behind the net with Toews and Laughton and then escalated. Sanheim wrestled the pint-sized Debrincat behind the net. Offsetting roughing minors -- Konecny and Ristolainen for the Flyers and Connor Murphy and Caleb Jones for Chicago -- were the result.
Lindblom worked the puck past Seth Jones with both players going down in a heap at 12:42. Lindblom got a high-sticking double minor and Jones got two for tripping. Lindblom's skate went dangerously underneath him as he went to the ice, but he was OK. The Blackhawks went on the power play. The Flyers killed it off in good shape.
The Blackhawks were called for too many men on the ice again at 18:34. The Flyers went on the power play. Chicago pulled Lankinen for a 5-on-5 with their net empty. An Atkinson pass was dangerously turned over near the blueline but Ivan Provorov erased it with a blocked shot. Hayes at Atkinson broke up a play just before the final buzzer.