Eighteen seconds into 3-on-3 sudden death overtime, Forsberg peeled off the right boards over the middle and wristed a shot on net. Ersson made the save but couldn't freeze the puck. The puck sat on his pad and Forsberg followed it up to end the game (15th goal of the season). The assists went to Roman Josi and Ryan O'Reilly.
Samuel Erisson stopped 18 of 21 shots in a losing cause. He received 23 blocked shots in front of him. Juuse Saros was outstanding in net for Nashville, making 38 saves on 40 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-4 on the power play. The Predators were 0-for-3. Philadelphia has now killed off 43 of its last 45 penalties.
Ryan Poehling returned to the Flyers' lineup after missing the previous two games due to illness. Veteran defenseman Marc Staal exited the lineup as a healthy scratch.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nick Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
5 Egor Zamula- 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
33 Samuel Ersson
[79 Carter Hart]
TURNING POINT
The Flyers late second period penalty kill, followed by Couturier's tight angle goal that cut the gap to 2-1 gave the team a bonafide chance going into the third period. Saros played brilliantly for Nashville and it took an almost perfect finish to solve him.
POSTGAME 5
1) The Flyers iced the puck just 12 seconds after the opening faceoff. Couturier lost the ensuing faceoff but the Flyers claimed the puck and went the other way. Foerster put a tricky shot on net from the left circle. At 44 seconds, Foerster was called for a slash as the Flyers entered the attack zone. Nashville went on the game's first power play.
The Flyers' kill got off to a strong start. With PP2 out for the Preds, Ersson was tested by Tommy Novak. The Preds won the next faceoff, ahd Filip Forsberg snapped a shot on goal. Nashville went offside with 19 seconds left in the power play. Poehling win the next faceoff and the Flyers cleared the puck down the ice.
The Flyers went to the power play at 3:02. Luke Schenn was called for an elbow (called roughing) against Hathaway. The Flyers started the power play with PP2. Tippett had a slick entry and Atkinson had a scoring chance.The first unit never got set up at all as they failed to gain entry with possession or recover a dump-in.
At 7:58, Poehling had a nice takeaway in the neutral zone. On the next shift, Frost fed Brink for an opportunity off the rush but Roman Josi knocked the puck off Brink's stick. At the end of his shift, Frost awkwardly went into the end boards in the Preds' zone. He went off slowly but stayed in the game.
Nashville struck for the first goal at 9:42. Shots on goal through 10:19 were 7-4 Flyers.
Laughton created a chance for Atkinson on the rush at 11:43. One-on-one with Saros, Atkinson was stopped by the goalie. On the next shift, there was a massive scramble near the Flyers' net, but Philly's fourth line survived it unscathed.
The Flyers went to their second power play at 12:38 as Dane Fabbro was called for hooking Tippett as he went toward the net. Off a feed from Frost, Couturier had a chance near the right post. Saros prevented the jam-in attempt. The second unit came out and generated some pressure but were unable to pot a goal.
Philly went right back to the power play at 15:28 when Luke Evangelista was sent off for hooking Poehling in the Philly zone. Frost was stopped by the blocker from the right slot off a Yakov Trenin giveaway, which produced a rebound in front but the loose puck went through Couturier's legs. With the second unit out, Laughton put a shot on net from the right side. This time, there was no rebound.
2) The Flyers outplayed Nashville for the most part in the first period, but the 0-for-3 on the power play and the deflection goal sent Philly to the locker room trailing. First period shots on goal were 14-7 Flyers. Shot attempts were 20-14 Flyers. Scoring chances were 10-8 Flyers. High-danger chances were 6-4 Flyers. Faceoffs were 11-10 Flyers (Frost was 3-for-3, Poehling was 3-for-4. Couturier was 3-for-7 and Laughtin was 2-for-7).
3) On the first shift of the second period, a Ryan McDonagh turnover created a 2-on-1 for Konecny and Foerster. Saros made a great save on Foerster. Later in the shift, McDonagh turned over the puck again but Saron denied Couturier.
After yet another Carolina turnover, Farabee had a scoring chance. The Frost line was out next and generated lengthy puck possession.
At 3:05, on a delayed Flyers penalty, Nashville made it 2-0. The Preds kept the Laughton line hemmed in the defensive zone on the next shift after the McCarron goal. Through 7:21, shots on goal were 5-3 Flyers.
Hathaway was called for a marginal offensive zone high stick at 10:30. Nashville went on their second power play of the game. Philly staged an airtight PK.
With 6:25 left, Frost and Foerster created a play but Tippett' short-side attempt was stopped as Saros hugged the post. On the next shift, Saros covered the puck after chances for Brink (blocked by Kiefer Sherwood at the goal line on a wraparound) and Walker.
At 17:26, Deslauriers dropped the gloves with Lauzon at center ice. The fight was in response to a hit by Lauzon on Tippett along the wall in the Predators' zone. In addition to the fighting major on Deslauriers, he was tagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Right after the Flyers completed a successful kill, Farabee left the box to create an outnumbered rush. Couturier scored at 19:36.
4) Second period shots on goal were 14-5 Flyers (29-12 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 22-15 Flyers (43-29 Flyers through 40 minutes). Second period scoring chances were 11-8 Flyers (22-17 Flyers overall). High-danger chances were 5-2 Flyers (12-6 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 10-4 Predators (20-15 overall in Nashville's favor. Frost and Poehling were tied at 3-for-5, Couturier was 5-for-10. Colton Sissons led the Preds at 8-for-11).
5) York pinched in on the first shift of the third period. He narrowly missed the short side from the left circle. At 52 seconds, the Preds are called for too many men on the ice. At 1:15, Frost put a right circle shot on net. The Flyers once again had considerable attack time but no payoff.
After the penalty expired, Cole Smith moved past Ristolainen. Ersson had to make back-to-back saves to keep the deficit at 2-1. At 4:16, Foerster had a point blank chance off a Konecny centering pass after Luke Schenn broke his stick. On the next shift, Frost created a neutral zone turnover and passed to Brink. Brink fed Tippett, who was denied on a backhander from the slot.
The Flyers' Konecny got away with a seeming holding penalty on Nyquist on a Flyers exit. There was no call, and Philly continued to attack. At the other end, Sanheim's rebound goal tied the score at 6:49.
Poehling saved the Flyers a potential goal against, diving to block a shot with Ersson scrambling to get back in position. Forsberg got the goalie to commit early, swooped around the net and passed out to the high slot. Two shifts later, Frost blocked a Sherwood shot. Nashville continued to pressure over the next several shifts.
Play settled down for several minutes before the Preds made a late push again. With 7.5 seconds left in regulation, the Flyers iced the puck. won a defensive zone draw and the Flyers took the game to overtime. Unfortunately for the Flyers, the game ended one shift into sudden death.
Third period shots on goal were 11-7 Flyers (40-19 Flyers through regulation). Shot attempts were 31-19 Preds (62-60 overall to the Flyers). Scoring chances were 16-7 Predators (34-30 overall to Nashville). High-danger chances were 5-4 Predators (17-11 Flyers through regulation). Facoffs in the third period were 9-8 Nashville (29-23 Predators overall)
