Mishkin's Extra Shift: Lightning 6, Flyers 5 - OT

I guess we should just expect wild and crazy games when the Lightning and Flyers meet. For the second time this year between the clubs, the Flyers rallied from a big third period deficit to tie the game at five and force overtime. Then in the OT, the Lightning prevailed.

So there was plenty of goal scoring tonight. There were also several high-skill, highlight-reel plays that led to goals. And some leaky defensive work that plagued both clubs.
The early part of the first period, however, was (compared to what we would see later in the game) rather vanilla. Both clubs seemed to be finding their skating legs after the holiday break. The Flyers found theirs before the Lightning did. A Philadelphia power play just shy of the halfway point of the frame resulted in a lot of Flyers pressure and an incredible Andrei Vasilevskiy save on Wayne Simmonds. Vasilevskiy stopped Simmonds' point-blank rebound shot, but the puck fluttered in the air behind him. Similar to his save on Toronto's Patrick Marleau earlier in the month, Vasilevskiy kept the puck out even though he couldn't see it. As he swung his back leg up, he batted the puck and redirected it away from the goal line.
Thanks to Vasilevskiy's save, the Flyers didn't score on that power play, but they would break through on the shift after the advantage ended. Michael Raffl tipped a shot into the net at 10:50. They applied more pressure on the next shift and nearly added to their lead. With about seven minutes left in the period, the Flyers owned a shot advantage of 11-6. But the Lightning would post the final 10 shots in the period and thoroughly controlled the final minutes. Nikita Kucherov converted on a three-on-two rush to tie the game and Brayden Point added a power play goal in the final minute.
Early in the second, Claude Giroux's spectacular goal off the rush tied the game at two. The Flyers did produce some extended offensive zone shifts during the middle period, but couldn't grab the lead. The Lightning's penalty kill produced an important kill right after the Giroux goal - the Lightning unsuccessfully challenged the play for being off-side and were penalized as a result. Then, in the final eight minutes of the period, the Lightning made three high-end plays leading to goals. Steven Stamkos finished a terrific pass from Kucherov by snapping a shot from the slot into the top of the net at 12:23. About two and a half minutes later, Victor Hedman, Kucherov and Stamkos teamed up on during a power play for a tic-tac-toe passing sequence that ended with another Stamkos goal. (Stamkos now has 14 goals in the month of December, a new career-best for goals in a month). Then, with a delayed penalty pending on the Flyers, the Lightning executed another high-skill play, this time with the sixth-attacker. They moved the puck cleanly into the offensive zone, where Stamkos and Kucherov exchanged quick cross-ice passes. Kucherov's one-timer deflected off Tyler Johnson and into the net with under eight seconds left in the frame.
Down 5-2 entering the third, the Flyers, similar to the game in Philly on November 17, mounted a comeback. Dale Weise's goal, one that deflected in off his skate, came at 1:33, moments after a Lightning neutral zone turnover. Less than three minutes later, defenseman Robert Hagg scored off a one-timer from the left point, a shot that eluded a screened Vasilevskiy. At 8:38, the game was tied. A missed assignment off a d-zone faceoff gave Ivan Provorov an open look from the left circle and he blasted a shot into the top of the net.
The final half of the third period featured a lot of puck possession for the Lightning, but they couldn't translate that advantage into the go-ahead goal. At the other end, the Flyers, despite owning less possession time than the Lightning, were able to generate some dangerous looks. But Vasilevskiy made key saves on Jake Voracek, Provorov and, in the final minute, two point-blank stops on Sean Couturier.
During the opening shift of overtime, Anthony Cirelli was able to steal the puck from Giroux at center ice and carry it into the offensive zone. He dropped a pass to Killorn, who fired a shot into the top of the net, just as Hedman was skating through the low slot and providing a screen.
Certainly, the Lightning would have preferred to close out this game in regulation and not deal with another Philadelphia comeback. They'll also look to tighten things up defensively in their next game. But make no mistake - they earned the goals they scored tonight. And, as it turned out, they would need all of them.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Steven Stamkos - Lightning. Two goals and two assists. 2. Nikita Kucherov - Lightning. Goal and three assists. 3. Claude Giroux - Flyers. Goal and assist.