Postgame RAV4: Flyers Drop 4-3 OT Outcome to Flames

In their final trip to the venerable Saddledome, the Philadelphia Flyers saw three separate leads slip away on Sunday evening. The Calgary Flames took a 4-3 overtime win. The Flyers 4-10-5 remain winless in games decided after regulation.

The Flyers played an uneven first period. Offensively, a Denver Barkey rebound goal (2nd) on a Sean Couturier shot pass was canceled out by Zayne Parekh snipe (2nd) from the dot.

Philly's play picked up considerably -- especially on the forecheck -- in the middle stanza. They eventually took a 3-2 lead to the second intermission.

In the second period, Noel Acciari (goals in back-to-back games, 3rd of the season). Defenseman Zach Whitecloud (1st) re-tied the score before Owen Tippett (PPG, 2nd) restored the edge.

The Flames pushed back again in the third period. Joel Farabee made it a 3-3 game on a shorthanded breakaway goal (SHG, 7th).

Matt Coronato (4th) netted the OT winner after Calgary never led in regulation.

Dan Vladar stopped 22 of 26 shots. Devin Cooley turned away 31 of 34 shots.

1ST PERIOD

Christian Dvorak and Tyson Foerster combined to ride Matt Coronato off the puck. On the next shift, ex-Flyer Joel Farabee fired a left circle shot on net. Former Calgary goalie Vladar snapped it out of the air.

Shots were 2-2 through 4:40.

Calgary hit aggressively --  five of the first eight credited hits. At the other end of the ice. Noel Acciari deflected a puck on bet. Cooley made the save.

Foerster cut in off the boards and snapped a shot at the net. Later in the shift, he put a puck on net off the rush. Shots were 4-2 Flyers.

Vladar and Jamie Drysdale miscommunicated on an indecisive puck exchange. No harm resulted. Owen Tippett landed a good hit along the defensive boards. On the next shift, Farabee fed Mikael Backlund for a Grade B scoring chance.

At 12:46, the Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead. Couturier and Zayne Parekh collided in the neutral zone. The Calgary defenseman went down. Philly continued the attack. In the offensive zone, Couturier shot for a rebound. The puck went to Barkey, who made no mistake. The second assist went to Drysdale.

Couturier's helper was the 366th of his NHL career. It tied him with Rod Brind'Amour for ninth on the Flyers' all-time assist list.

Calgary quickly evened up the game at 15:25. Pinching on the play, Parekh fired a rising shot from the left dot over Vladar from the left circle. The assists went to Yan Kuznetov and Yegor Sharangovich. 

Loose defense was the culprit. Four different Flames got touches in succession, starting with Morgan Frost, but Parekh's slick finish made the difference. 

At 17:30, Cooley snapped up a Porter Martone from the left dot that was headed to the far side.

Farabee nearly capitalized on a Flyers turnover. Vladar erased it.

Shots: Flyers 8 -- Flames 7
Faceoffs: Flyers 11 -- Flames 9

2ND PERIOD

Travis Konecny generated a transition rush from center ice. Cooley made the save. The Flyers continued the pressure. Tippett used his speed to get a backhander on net.

On the next shift, Sharangovich hit the post after receiving a lead pass from Frost. The puck deflected off Drysdale and changed direction.

The Flyers' fourth line struck again at 2:16. Acciari chipped in the puck behind the defense and barreled in for the retrieval. The puck went out to Nick Seeler at the point. Acciari deflected the puck home. The assists went to Seeler and Couturier. The Flyers' captain surpassed Brind'Amour on the all-time list.

The teams traded off chances at either end. Cole Knuble created a Grade A rebound chance on the latter opportunity.

Calgary drew even again at 5:59. Whitecloud's shot found its way past Vladar off the shaft of the goalie's stick. The assists went to Aydar Suniev and Sharangovich. 

Frost was called for an offensive zone tripping penalty at 7:21. Konecny missed the net with a good look late in the 5-on-4.  With Frost out of the box, Barkey fed Couturier on a back-post opportunity.

At 12:24, Zegras centered the puck off a Calgary turnover. Tippett had his fourth scoring chance of the night.

Philly went back to the power play at 13:45. Martone's work behind the net caused Parekh to trip him. Strong wall play created possession for Philly. On yet another scoring chance, Tippett scored on a turn-around shot at 15:07. The assists went to Christian Dvorak and Oliver Bonk.

At 18:07, Martone was called for tripping Simon Nemec in the neutral zone. Cates outdueled Frost on a 50-50 puck. Calgary went to their first power play. Seeler had a shorthanded bid.

Shots: Flyers 16 (24 overall) - Flames 7 (14 overall)
Faceoffs:Flyers 7 (18 overall) - Flames 17 (26 overall)

3RD PERIOD

The first 3:29 of the period was fairly quiet. Frost had a good forechecking shift but generated only a routine side angle shot. Calgary also controlled possession on the next shift.

The Flyers went to their 3rd power play at 6:48. Suniev clipped Foerster with a high stick near the defensive blueline. At 8:27, the red hot Farabee scored shorthanded on his 10th breakaway of the season. Martin Pospisil poked the puck away from Bonk on the front end of the play.

With 5:24 left in regulation, Trevor Zegras took an unforced delay of game penalty. The Flyers killed it off.

With 2:45 remaining, Vladar made a 10-bell save on Farabee. Seeler provided just enough help defensively to avoid a goal.

Cooley fought off a Konecny shot with 1:31 on the clock. Cagary iced the puck at 18:42. On the next shift, Posposil was unable to convert a point blank chance. With 22 seconds remaining Vladar robbed Farabee.

Shots: Flyers 5 (30 overall) - Flames 9 (23 overall)
Faceoffs:Flyers 14 (32 overall) - Flames 7 (33 overall)

OVERTIME

Tippett fired off a shot from just over the blueline. Parekh came within a whisker of a winning goal.

With 1:46 left in OT, Vladar denied Zegras off a feed from Foerster.

At 4;08, with two Flyers caught up ice after Dvorak and Cam York collided, Coronato scored off a feed from Matvei Gridin. Nemec had the second assist.

Shots: Flyers 4 (34 overall) - Flames 3 (26 overall)
Faceoffs:Flyers 1 (33 overall) - Flames 2 (35 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Tyson Foerster – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Porter Martone – Noah Cates — Matvei Michkov
Trevor Zegras – Cole Knuble – Owen Tippett
Denver Barkey – Sean Couturier — Trevor Zegras  

Travis Sanheim – Jamie Drysdale
Cam York – Oliver Bonk
Nick Seeler – Simon Benoit

Dan Vladar
[Joseph Woll]

POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV 4 Things Revisited)

1. Flyers lineup shuffle

The Flyers fourth line provided the game's first and second goals -- the third and fourth consecutive Philly goals from a player on the fourth line or third defense pair. The second power play unit chipped in the next tally.

2.  Power Play

Philadelphia went 1-for-3 on the power play. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill against Calgary's red-hot power play.

3. Owen Tippett

The speedy veteran winger knocked on the door of a potential goal several times over the first 35 minutes of the game. It finally paid off in a power play tally.

4.  Ex-Flyers: Farabee and Frost

Joel Farabee entered the game as Calgary's top scorer this season. He was arguably Calgary's best player in the first and third periods in particular. Finally, in the 3rd period, Farabee struck for a shorthanded breakaway goal. Meanwhile, Morgan Frost won 13 of 20 faceoffs, blocked two shots and had one shot on net.