Postgame 5: Flyers Conquer Chicago in OT, 3-2

The Philadelphia Flyers came from behind to beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 in overtime, at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. Philly erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to force sudden death.

In OT, rookie Matvei Michkov (7th) goal of the season moved in to receive a gorgeous saucer pass from Travis Konecny and score the winning goal at 1:06. Travis Sanheim earned the other assist.

The Flyers had a 10-7 shot on goal edge (23-17 shot attempt edge) in the first period and had multiple good scoring chances. Scott Laughton racked up five shots. Most notably, Travis Konecny and Laughton broke loose on a shorthanded two-man breakaway early in the first period. Laughton was denied at the doorstep.

A Flyers turnover in the offensive zone on a 4-on-2 rush -- a Konency pass went off Owen Tippett's skate -- and led to a 3-on-1 counterattack for Chicago. At 11:29, Lukas Reichel (2nd goal of the season) received a feed from Patrick Maroon and scored from the right slot. The second assist went to Connor Murphy for triggering the rush.

After 40 minutes, the Flyers started at 2-0 deficit. They had the edge in territorial play, including a 24-14 shot edge (14-6 in the second period) but two failed power plays and a second goal by Chicago's fourth line hurt.

Philadelphia started the second period with a two-minute power play from a Nolan Allan hooking penalty as the opening frame expired. The Flyers yielded a shorthanded breakaway to Ilya Mikheyev that Alexei Kolosov stopped.

Maroon (1st) scored on a backhander from the right circle for a 2-0 lead at 10:01 of the second period. The assists went to Craig Smith and Reichel. Earlier in the sequence, Maroon outworked both Tippett and Sean Couturier, but it was a shot Kolosov would want back.

Head coach John Tortorella juggled the line combinations over the latter portion of the second period. The revised lines carried into the third period.

Philly drew within 2-1 at 7:27 of the third period. Rasmus Ristolainen found team captain Sean Couturier near the net and Couturier (4th of the season) finished from in close. The helpers went to Ristolainen and Konecny.

The Flyers pulled even at 2-2 at 10:05 of the third period on a shot from up high by Noah Cates (1st of the season) after taking a pass from Bobby Brink and whirling around. The secondary assist went to Tyson Foerster.

At the end of regulations, shots on goal were 36-21 in the Flyers' favor (12-7 Flyers in the third period. The Flyers went to a 4-on-3 power play at the 40-second mark of OT on a holding penalty on Alex Vlasic.

Kolosov stopped 19 of 21 shots. Former Flyers goaltender Petr Mrazek made 34 saves on 37 shots.

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

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
71 Tyson Foerster- 48 Morgan Frost - 39 Matvei Michkov
86 Joel Farabee - 27 Noah Cates- 10 Bobby Brink
21 Scott Laughton - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

6 Travis Sanheim - 8 Cam York
36 Emil Andrae - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 3 Helge Grans

35 Aleksei Kolosov
[82 Ivan Fedotov]

PP1: Sanheim, Foerster, Couturier, Konecny, Michkov
PP2: York, Tippett,Frost, Farabee, Brink

Scratches: 5 Egor Zamula (healthy),77 Erik Johnson (healthy), 44 Nicolas Deslauriers, 36 Emil Andrae (mid-body injury), 9 Jamie Drysdale (IR), 33 Samuel Ersson (IR, lower body).

TURNING POINT

For two-plus periods, the Flyers had territorial control and plenty of scoring chances but could not pot a goal. Couturier's third period goal alleviated some built-up frustrations for his team. The Flyers soon got a tying goal from Cates.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 Things" Revisited)

1) Scoring first: Over the game's first 6:32 of play, the Flyers had five of the game's first seven shots on goal, including three prime scoring chances but were unable to break through. At 11:29, the Blackhawks made it 1-0.

2) Michkov vs. Bedard: Michkov is showing an affinity for stepping up in big moments. He built up to his eventual game winning goal. With 1:29 left in regulation, Michkov had a deflection try near the net. Earlier he made a good backchecking play on a Chicago odd-man rush. He capped it off with his second overtime goal of the season. Bedard had a quiet game (zero shots on goal).

3) Couturier Line: The Flyers top line was out for both the first and second Chicago goals. The line was broken up in the second period . At 7:27 of the third period, Couturier (reunited with Konecny) scored to make it a 2-1 game.The captain also won 16 of his first 20 faceoffs.

4) Cam York's Return: After a 13-game absence, York was activated from Injured Reserve. His first game back was a challenge. The defensemen was called for the game's first penalty (a holding minor on Tyler Bertuzzi) at 2:17 of the first period. York joined the rush on the sequence that led to Reichel's goal in transition. He finished regulation with an even 20 minutes of ice time (one shot on goal, two shot attempts blocked, three charged giveaways, two credited takeaways, E).

5) F Troop: Farabee, Foerster, Frost: Farabee had a good scoring chance late in the second period off a Sanheim stretch pass. Frost had a scoring chance off a broken rush at 4:21 of the third period. Later, Foerster had a secondary helper on Cates' tying goal.