Postgame RAV4: Flyers Lose to Vegas in OT

The Philadelphia Flyers took away one point against the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-2 overtime loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday evening. Two goals by Mark Stone, including the OT winner, gave Vegas the win.

The Flyers battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and played Vegas evenly for most of the night.

Ultimately, a poor game on special teams and an overtime turnover proved to be the difference. The Flyers are 2-2-1 on their current six-game homestand.

Zack Whitecloud (1st goal of the season) gave Vegas an early 1-0 lead. Trevor Zegras (team-leading 11th goal) evened the score.

In the second period, Noah Juulsen's first goal as a Flyer drew Philly even after Stone gave Vegas the 2-1 lead. There was no further scoring until Stone won the game for the Golden Knights in OT.

Dan Vladar made 17 saves on 20 shots. Akira Schmid stopped 17 of 19 shots to earn the win for the Golden Knights.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Ty Murchison threw a big hit at the defensive blue line on Braeden Bowman. Matvei Michkov made a nice move on an entry and snapped the Flyers' first shot on net.

A Christian Dvorak turnover high in the offensive zone led to a Vegas goal off a transition rush. In the Flyers' end, defenseman Whitecloud joined the attack and finished off the play for a 1-0 lead at 6:07. The assists went to Ivan Barbashev and Bowman.

Through 10 minutes, shots on net were 3-1 Vegas.

After Emil Andrae was beaten off the half boards, Vladar had to whirl and twirl but the game stayed 1-0.

The Flyers executed a gorgeous back door play to tie the game at 16:11. Sanheim used his lateral mobility up high and fired a perfect pass to Zegras breaking to the right post. The assists went to Sanheim and Dvorak.

Through 17 minutes, Vegas' shot on goal lead was at 5-4.

The Flyers got the game's first power play as Barbashev tripped Emil Andrae at 19:44. The Flyers took 1:44 of carryover 5-on-4 time into the second period.

Shots: Flyers 5 - Vegas 5
Faceoffs; Flyers 8 - Vegas 7

Notable:

• The Flyers did not start out well in their puck management but settled in as the period went along.
• Philly had multiple open looks as the first period went along. They missed the net on eight shot attempts, including an Owen Tippett power play look in the waning seconds.
• The Golden Knights were guilty of six giveaways in the period.

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers did not do much with the carryover power play. Vladar stopped Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl on tough chances with play back at 5-on-5.

Carl Grundstrom was called for a neutral zone holding penalty at 3:34. On a shorthanded rush, Noah Cates nearly got to his own rebound in front of the net. The Flyers killed off the penalty.

Owen Tippett took the puck away from a defender in the low slot. Matvei Michkov was stopped by a great Schmid save at 6:28.

Through 9:04, second period shots were 5-5 (10-10 overall).

The Flyers were caught with too many men on the ice at 12:05. Rodrigo Abols jumped out on ice with five skaters already out. Vegas cashed in on a Stone second-effort play on a loose rebound in front at 12:53. The helpers went to Pavel Dorofeyev and Eichel.

Philly went to their second power play when Dorofeyev tripped Grundstrom on the forecheck at 13:32.The Flyers fumbled the puck several times.

With play back at 5-on-5, Juulsen scored as he blasted a one-timer home from the left dot off a Dvorak setup. It was Juulsen's first goal as a Flyer and first since February 17, 2024. The secondary assist went to Grundstrom.

Shots: Flyers 9 (14 overall) - Vegas 9 (14 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 6 (14 overall) - Vegas 10 (17 overall)

Notable:

• Sean Couturier won five of eight faceoffs through two periods.
• Andrae had some problems with the puck in both the first and second periods.
• Through two periods, scoring chances favored Vegas 22-14 according to Natural Stat Trick (12-4 Vegas in high-danger chances).
• Vegas was guilty of 13 giveaways through two periods, the Flyers eight (three by Zegras).

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Andrae hustled back to disrupt a scoring chance for Stone. Sanheim prevented a potential backdoor goal with a quick defensive stick.

Through eight minutes, shots were 3-0 Golden Knights.

Couturier went in alone on a mini-breakaway with a golden chance to take the lead. The shot missed the net. Midway through the period, the Noah Cates line created a major scramble near the net.

Vegas iced the puck at 13:51. Cates won the next faceoff. By this point of the game, Grundstrom was playing on Cates' line. Nikita Grebenkin was on Line 4.

At 15:12, Brett Howden was called for an elbowing minor against Grundstrom. Brink broke up a potential shorthanded 2-on-1. The Flyers did not have a shot on the man advantage. Philly changed up their units, with Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov coming off and Cates plus Bobby Brink starting the power play.

With 2:26 left, Vladar snagged a 40-foot shot for a stoppage.

Shots: Flyers 5 (19 overall) - Vegas 5 (19 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 5 (19 overall) - Vegas 7 (24 overall)

Notable:

• Strong defensive period from the Flyers, along with most of the latter 50 minutes of regulation.
• Cates led all Flyers with four shots on goal for regulation.

Overtime synopsis

The Flyers had most of the early possession until Jamie Drysdale was taken off the puck. Vladar made the first save of OT.

Shortly thereafter, Konecny flubbed an outlet pass. The Flyers never got the puck back again. Eichel fed Stone for the game winning goal at 2:47.

Shots: Flyers 0 (19 overall) - Vegas 2 (21 overall)
Faceoffs; Flyers 2 (21 overall) - Vegas 1 (25 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Matvei Michkov – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Nikita Grebenkin – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Carl Grundstrom – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Ty Murchison - Noah Juulsen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1, Transition game

Vegas' first goal started in transition. On the Philly side, the team had some looks. The Couturier semi-breakaway was probably the best chance.

2. Special teams

The Flyers played Vegas evenly at 5-on-5. Special teams were what was problematic in regulation. Philly produced just one shot on net on their three power plays. Meanwhile, the too many men on the ice penalty was costly.

3. Couturier

The Flyers' captain skated 20 shifts (15:50). He checked well as usual and had the one prime scoring chance. He was 5-for-12 on faceoffs.

4. Shot and chance suppression

Vegas was the NHL's second-best shot suppression team entering the game, so the Flyers went in knowing they'd have to work for their shots and would have to do the same in kind to Vegas. Philly did just that for the most part. They also hung with the Golden Knights in the trenches. It was a solid effort overall.