Postgame 5: Flyers Overcome Lightning in Shootout

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning via shootout, 4-3 (2-1), at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Two goals and an assist from Bobby Brink sparked Philadelphia. Head coach John Tortorella changed two of the forward line combinations and the tweaks paid off in Philadelphia's first win of their seven-game homestand.

Ryan Poehling also tallied for the Flyers in regulation. Owen Tippett, who tallied the shootout the first time the two teams played this season, netted the winning shootout goal on Thursday. Olle Lycksell collected two assists.

The Flyers recorded four of the game's first five shots on net through the opening 5:30. At 6:47, after Poehling flipped the puck over the glass from the defensive zone, Tampa went to the power play. At 8:29 of the first period, Tampa scored on their second shot of the period. Gage Goncalves (PPG, 4th goal of the season) had a tip-in near the right post. The assists went to Yanni Gourde and Ryan McDonagh.

In transition, the Flyers tied the score at 1-1 at 14:20. Taking a pass from Lycksell, Brink (9th) scored on a nice shot from the right slot. The apples were collected by Lycksell and Poehling.

First period shots on goal favored the Flyers, 9-7. Philly won 12 of 18 faceoffs (Sean Couturier was 6-for-8) and blocked four Tampa shot attempts. It was solid enough to take a 1-1 deadlock to intermission.

Just 15 seconds into the second period, Zemgus Girgensons (2nd) bagged a rebound goal after an initial shot went off Jamie Drysdale. Erik Cernak and Brandon Hagel got the assists.

Fifteen seconds later, Brink took a tripping minor. The Flyers PKers came through. Philly went to their first power play at 4:12 as J.J. Moser grabbed hold of an attacking Jakob Pelletier. Sean Couturier had a good chance from the center slot as the 5-on-4 expired. With play back at 5-on-5, Poehling put on a burst and had a one-one chance against Jonas Johansson. The goalie made the save.

Tampa went back to the power play at 6:38 as Brink was called for an offensive zone hooking penalty on an attempted forecheck along the right side boards. Exiting the penalty box, Brink struck again on the rush for his second tally of the game (10th of the season), finishing it off nicely on the backhand at 10:55. Couturier earned the lone assist.

The Flyers took the lead at 19:01 as Poehling (5th) got wide open in front and finished the play off after a feed from Lycksell, patiently waiting out Johansson. Brink got the secondary assist for his third point of the game.

Second period shots on goal were 8-7 Flyers (17-14 Philly through two periods). Over the first 40 minutes, faceoffs were 17-16 Tampa ( 11-5 Lightning in the middle frame). The Flyers blocked six shots, including three blocks by Sanheim.

Tampa tied the game at 3-3 at 3:50 of the third period as former Flyers winger Cam Atkinson (4th) scored from the right circle. Victor Hedman and Moser assisted.

Samuel Ersson made a couple of good saves to keep the score tied. Third period shots were 5-4 Flyers at a TV timeout at the 10:40 mark. Philadelphia had a golden opportunity for a power play at 10:54 when McDonagh was called for a hooking minor. With two goals to his credit Brink came out with the first power play unit. The Flyers pressed heavily over the first 80 seconds. They were ultimately unable to retake the lead.

Third period shots on goal were 11-5 Flyers (28-19 Flyers at the end of regulation). In OT, Ersson made a vital save to keep the game going. Johansson responded in kind during the final minute. OT shots were 2-1 Flyers (29-20 Philly overall).

In the shootout, the Flyers elected to shoot first. The session unfolded this way:

• 1st Round: Konecny put a shot off both posts but not in the net. Jake Guentzel was denied on the backhand by Ersson's glove.
• 2nd Round: Matvei Michkov scored low to the blocker side. Brayden Point scored five-hole.
• 3rd Round: Brink flipped a shot over the net. Hedman missed wide.
• 4th Round: Couturier was stopped with the pads by Johansson. Hagel was denied on a five-hole try.
• 5th Round: Owen Tippett scored between the pads. Oliver Bjorkstrand stopped by Ersson's outstretched left pad.

In a battle of Swedish netminders Ersson (17 saves on 20 shots, 4-for-5 in the shootout) bested Johansson (26 saves on 29 shots, 3-for-5 in the shootout).

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny

15 Olle Lycksell - 125 Ryan Poehling - 10 Bobby Brink

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 22 Jakob Pelletier

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim

24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale

36 Emil Andrae - 5 Egor Zamula

32 Samuel Ersson

[82 Ivan Fedotov]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (injury), 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body).

PP1: Drysdale, Konecny, Cates. Foerster, Michkov

PP2: Andrae, Tippett, Couturier, Lycksell, Brink

TURNING POINT

The Flyers' two penalty kills in the second period were key moments in the game. The first one kept the deficit to one goal. The latter ended with Brink tying the game at 2-2 moments after his second minor penalty of the period expired. That went a long way toward gaining a regulation point.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Defensemen joining the attack: The Flyers had their transition game working well on Thursday. There weren't many situations in which a defense needed -- or had a real opportunity -- to pinch on plays, however.

2. Play from ahead: The Flyers played a pretty strong first period and bounced back quickly after Tampa took the lead on Goncalves' power play goal. In the second period, the Flyers again erased a one-goal deficit. This time, they took a one-goal edge to intermission. Philly was the better team in the third period, but the lone goal belonged to Tampa.

3. Flyers special teams: The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. They went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

4. Forward corps: The revised Poehling line with Lycksell and Brink had a huge impact on the win. Team captain Couturier stepped up on the penalty kill and sprung Brink's second goal.

5. X-factor -- Contain Guentzel-Point-Kucherov: Tampa Bay's top line was missing Nikita Kuckerov on Thursday due to illness. Nick Paul subbed on right wing and Atkinson dressed in the vacated spot in the starting lineup. The Flyers did a really good job in this game at checking the Point line.