POSTGAME 5: Season Ends in 5-4 OT Win in Chicago

In the final game of the 2022-23 season, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, 5-4, on Thursday evening at the United Center. The Flyers led by scores of 2-0 and 4-2 before pulling out a win in OT.
Travis Konecny had a four point game with two goals and two assists. Owen Tippett (1g, 1a) and Morgan Frost (0g, 2a) also had multi-point games in the finale.

Konecny scored twice in the first period on feeds by Frost. First, TK hit a new single-season career milestone with his 30th goal of the season at the 0:26 mark. Konecny then tallied again (31st) at 6:21 on another goal assisted by Frost. Chicago then struck back for goals by Jujhar Khaira (6th) at 7:28 and Anders Björk (2nd) at 9:20.
The Flyers struck for two early goals in the middle frame on goals by Owen Tippett (27th) at 0:46 and Noah Cates (PPG, 13th) at 4:22. Jonathan Toews (PPG,15th) narrowed the deficit for Chicago to 4-3 at 7:40.
The Flyers were unable to close out the game in the third period. At the18:00 mark, Andreas Athanasiou (20th) scored a 6-on-5 goal to force overtime. In OT, Toews came within a whisker of a breakaway goal before Ivan Provorov (6th) dangled around the defense and scored at 3:09.
Felix Sandström stopped 34 of 38 shots to earn the win. Alex Stalock made 31 saves on 36 shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-1 on the power play. The Blackhawks were also 1-for-1.
The retiring Justin Braun and fellow Flyers impending unrestricted free agent James van Riemsdyk played their respective final games in orange and black. Braun took a solo lap at the start of pregame warmups and his dad, Paul, was a guest behind the bench for the Flyers in the season finale.
Chicago captain Toews, who will not be re-signed by the Blackhawks this offseason, played his final game as a Blackhawk.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
13 Kevin Hayes - 49 Noah Cates - 74 Owen Tippett
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
22 Brendan Lemieux - 58 Tanner Laczynski - 44 Nicolas Deslauriers
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 61 Justin Braun
32 Felix Sandström
[79 Carter Hart]
TURNING POINT
In overtime, Toews stripped Frost of the puck and went in on a breakaway. Sandström made the save on the backhanded five-hole attempt. The puck dribbled through the pads and out the other side. At the other end of the ice, Provorov stickhandled his way to the net and beat Stalock to end the game and the season with an overtime win. Konecny and Sanheim drew the assists at 3:09.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Twenty-six seconds into the game, on a counterrush that started from the defensive zone, Frost fed a tape-to-tape backhanded pass to Konecy. TK buried it for his season milestone goal. The lone assist went to Frost (his 26th assist and 45th point of the season).
The Flyers had six of the game's first eight shots on goal.
Konecny scored again at 8:21. TK won a board battle, Frost moved over the middle to put a backhander on the net. Konecny buried the rebound. Once again, Frost received the lone assist.
The Blackhawks scored on their sixth shot of the game. A shot by Connor Murphy deflected off Braun skate, bounced around near the net, and was potted by Khaira at 7:28. The assists went to Murphy and Wyatt Kaiser.
Chicago knotted the score at 2-2 as Björk scored in front on a rebound goal. The assists went to Andreas Athanasiou and defenseman Ian Mitchell at 9:20.
Toews's line hemmed in the Flyers' third line on a long shift. Wade Allison ended up on the ice for a very long time (1:47 elapsed before he could get back to the bench). At the other end of the ice,Stalock turned a puck over behind the net. Frost was thwarted on a stuff-in attempt, as he got tangled up with Stalock. Frost won the ensuing faceoff, and Konecny deflected a Sanheim point shot on net.
Cates turned a routine forecheck into an extended possession and a scoring chance. The score remained 3-3. At the other end, Sandström robbed Tyler Johnson. With 1:29 left in the period, JVR nearly scored as a Frost shot was blocked by Murphy and popped to van Riemsdyk. Fifteen seconds later, Stalock stopped another Frost bid for his 20th goal. Before the shift ended, Konecny nearly connected with Farabee at the back door.
2) The line of Farabee, Frost and Konecny had no fewer than five prime scoring chances in the first period. Defense was basically optional -- loose by both teams -- but it was entertaining if nothing else. Shots on goal were 15-15. Shot attempts were 25-19 Flyers. Scoring chances were 15-10 Flyers. High-danger chances were 7-5 Flyers. Faceoffs were 14-9 Chicago.
3) Farabee had a scoring chance from the left side 29 seconds into the second period. At the 46-second mark, Tippett intercepted a bad breakout pass attempt by Seth Jones and ripped an unassisted goal into the net to make it 3-2 before Stalock could get in position.
The Flyers had a 4-0 shot lead by the time the second period was 2:43 along. Braun came within a whisker of his 200th NHL point as his point shot dribbled through and softly went off the left post and sat near the goal line.
Kaiser was called for a delay of game penalty at 3:36. The Flyers went on the game's first power play. At 4:22, Cates scored on a one-timer from the bumper off a nice pass from Konecny. Tippett got the secondary helper. Braun, who moved laterally on a keep, did not draw an assist but started the sequence.
At 7:33, after Laczynski turned a puck over in the defensive zone, Seeler took a holding penalty for Chicago's first power play of the game. Toews won the ensuing faceoff against Laughton and, shortly thereafter, re-directed a shot by Athanasiou into the net at 7:40.
A potential tic-tac-toe scoring chance started by Frost went awry when Sanheim passed up an open shot and the extra pass missed the mark at 12:06. Konecny had a bid for a hat trick from the right dot at 15:35. Athanasiou turned a puck over to York on an attempted backdoor pass with only the Flyers defenseman there. At the other end of the ice, a Braun rebound rattled around.
4) Second period shots were 12-9 Flyers. Shot attempts were 21-14 Flyers. Scoring chances were 8-5 Flyers. High-danger chances were 2-2.
5) The Cates line started out the third period with heavy pressure in the Chicago zone. Sanheim outskated the very speedy Athanasiou on a backchecking play. A shift later, the Frost line got hemmed in with Braun playing without a stick. At 5:56, with York now without a stick, Hawks had another scoring chance.
Konecny had another bid at a hat trick -- and then at his own rebound -- at about the 6:30 mark. Frost had a great look from the left slot but was stopped by Stalock later in the shift.
At 11:31, after blocking a shot, Ristolainen showed off some good footwork to elude a forechecker and skate the puck to safety. Two shifts later, Athanasiou dangled twice around Flyers players for scoring chances. Then Tippett sprang JVR for a breakaway with a lob pass after taking a Chicago shot attempt off the ribcage. With 4:45 left, York blocked an Entwhistle shot from the left slot to erase a prime scoring chance.
With 3:02 left, the Blackhawks' Johnson had a chance near the net. The Blackhawks pulled Stalock for an extra attacker. The Blackhawks tied the game at the 18:00 mark as a point shot hit York in the foot and, a moment later, Athanasiou scored. The assist went to Johnson for nudging the puck to the goal scorer.
Third period shots on goal were 12-5 Chicago, as much of the period was spent in the Philadelphia zone. Shot attempts were a whopping 32-7 Chicago. Scoring chances were 16-4 Chicago. High-danger chances were 6-2 Blackhawks.