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Flyers at Coyotes recap: Oy, that OT didn’t end pretty

Posted on by Kyle Phillippi

In a game where the Flyers never led, they managed to claw their way back to force overtime.

They also were inches away from leaving the Gila River Arena with two points in hand but Mike Smith had other plans in mind. Despite dominating the extra five minute period, the Flyers fell victim to an Oliver Ekman-Larsson game-winner in the final two minutes of overtime for a 4-3 loss.

Prior to that, possession was controlled by the Flyers as they fired five shots on net. Matt Read had a golden opportunity to end it but an unreal sprawling save by Smith denied that hope. The Coyotes had just two shots in overtime.

Nonetheless, the Flyers come out of their opening back-to-back with three points. That’s certainly nothing to fret about.

In order to get to overtime, though, the Flyers needed to first find an equalizer. Before being robbed in overtime, Read played the unlikely role of hero in the final 20 minutes of regulation.

On a feed from none other than Travis Konecny, Read took the breakout pass and deked his way by Mike Smith to even the score at 3-3 about five minutes into the third period. That — or the beautiful pass from the rookie who now has three points in two games — proved to be the spark the Flyers needed in a game that was uphill for much of the night.

Within the first 10 minutes of the games, the Flyers handed Arizona three power play opportunities. The Coyotes converted on their third man advantage when Shane Doan poked one past Steve Mason. The score, though, was marred in controversy.

It appeared as though Mason was bumped inside the crease as Doan shot it in the net. The officials reviewed it and determined that wasn’t the case. For what it’s worth, former NHL referee, Kerry Fraser, said on Twitter he disagreed with the call.

They would respond, though, as Michael Raffl potted his first goal of the season about four minutes later. Nick Schultz and Brandon Manning each had an assist. Last season, it took Raffl until his 13th game to get a score.

Raffl’s score nearly snowballed into more offensive production.

The Flyers were thisssss close to having their first lead of the game.

Seconds after the officials ruled there was inconclusive evidence on Boyd Gordon’s would-be first period goal, Arizona took play the opposite direction where Martin Hanzal slid one past Steve Mason to give the Coyotes the 2-1 advantage.

It was a sudden, emotional turn of events that left the Flyers fighting an uphill battle.

Trailing by a goal, the Flyers began the second period with over a minute to go on the power play. Seventeen seconds into the period, a turnover from Shayne Gostisbehere in what looked like a communication gaffe between he and Claude Giroux, resulted in a breakaway the other way that Brad Richardson capitalized on, lifting it right over Mason’s left pad.

Almost seven minutes later, the Flyers and Wayne Simmonds would answer to cut the deficit to 3-2. Simmonds followed up a Giroux shot that bounced off of Mike Smith’s pad back into the slot. On the play, Giroux dangled his way by his man to create his shot. That was a reassuring sight to see for Flyers fans who wondered what the captain would look like after offseason surgery.

It also would set the stage for the thrilling third period and overtime.

Other things that happened:

  • Matt Read had a chance to even the contest with about eight minutes to go in the second period. Jake Voracek threaded one by two defenders to give Read an open look at the doorstop. Smith was up for the challenge, though.
  • In net, Steve Mason stopped 31 of the 35 shots he saw. It was one of those games where Mason dealt with unfavorable situations, but also had a few hiccups, including one instance late in the game where he appeared to misread an easy wrister that ricocheted off of his glove.
  • Travis Konecny came very close to his first NHL goal being a thing of beauty. /

  • Had Gordon’s goal counted, he would have matched his season total from last season. Yes, he had two goals all of last year. Nonetheless, Gordon looks like a solid signing in the early going.
  • Speaking of Gordon: he won the final faceoff of regulation in the defensive zone with five seconds to go. That’s exactly why the Flyers brought him in.
  • The Flyers were outshot 8-0 at one point in the first period against Los Angeles. They found themselves in an 8-1 hole about halfway through Saturday’s first period.
  • Shayne Gostisbehere, who escaped a scary injury the night before, undressed a handful of Arizona defenders in this contest, most notably Luke Schenn. The second-year defenseman appeared to skate effortlessly — per usual — in this game and got more aggressive as the game progressed. /

Comment of the night

Will Chris Pronger get any ice time tonight?

– Jester2891

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