POSTGAME 5: Flyers Drop 4-3 OT Decision to LA

The Philadelphia Flyers held three separate one-goal leads against the LA Kings at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night but LA struck back each time. The game was tied at 3-3 after the second period and held through the end of regulation.

Ultimately, the Flyers sustained a 4-3 loss in overtime. The Flyers (20-21-8) are now 1-8 in games decided beyond regulation including a 1-7 mark in overtime decisions.
The Flyers finished their season series against Los Angeles with a 1-0-1 record.
Tuesday's first period was a wide open frame with the two teams trading off closely spaced chances and goals. James van Riemsdyk (8th goal of the season) opened the scoring at 5:50. Anze Kopitar (PPG, 13th) knotted the score at 1-1 at 9:21. The Flyers promptly retook the lead on a Wade Allison rebound tally (7th) at 10:21. LA quickly retied the game on Kopitar's second goal of the first period (14th of the season) at 11:40.
Rasmus Ristolainen (2nd of the season) gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 10:37 of the second period. LA's Samuel Fagemo (2nd) forged a 3-3 deadlock at 18:36. The third period was scoreless.
In overtime, the Flyers came within a whisker of winning but a Scott Laughton shot drew iron. Subsequently, Kevin Fiala (17th) scored the game winner on a 2-on-1 rush the other way.
Carter Hart stopped 34 of 38 shots in a losing cause. Pheonix Copley made 35 saves on 38 shots to earn the win.
There were lots of penalties whistled in the first and second periods. Thereafter, everything was let go, whether marginal or blatant. The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Kings were 1-for-5. In total, 11 minor penalties were called plus an after-OT game misconduct.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 77 Tony DeAngelo
24 Nick Seeler - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
In overtime, the Flyers started with Laughton and defensemen Sanheim and DeAngelo. Laughton lost the faceoff but was able to quickly get to the bench for Konecny to come out.
Hart made a pair of saves on Kopitar (who already had two goals in the cash register) in the opening 17 seconds of sudden death.
At 0:56,Laughton hit the post and Sanheim was denied at the doorstep after a pass from DeAngelo. DeAngelo got tripped up at the net. The Kings countered 2-on-1 and puck carrier Fiala shot and scored under Hart's arm to end the game at 0:56. The goal was unassisted.
Enraged by the non-call, DeAngelo screamed at the officials after the game was over. He was tagged with unsportsmanlike conduct and a game misconduct. During his postgame press conference, Tortorella opined that the non-call was the correct call.
Overtime shots on goal were 3-1 LA. Scoring chances were also listed as 3-1 LA.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) Quentin Byfield took the puck away from Wade Allison just inside the Flyers blueline on the game's first shift. Jaret Anderson-Dolan had the game's first good scoring chance. Matt Roy hit the post on the next shift. LA had each of the first four shots on goal.
Phillip Danault put the puck over the glass from the defensive zone for a delay of game penalty. The Flyers power play generated good puck movement from the Hayes unit and an effective offensive entry from the Laughton unit but did not score. Shots were 5-4 LA as of when the penalty expired
The Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead at 5:50. Frost had possession near the defensive blueline and passed back to Provorov. Provorov made a nice lead pass to TIppett for a clean entry. Tippett then passed across to JVR, who made no mistake as he finished the play off with a shot into the open left side of the net. The assists went to Tippett and Provorov.
The Kings went on their first power play at 9:17 as van Riemsdyk was called for pulling down Durzi in the neutral zone. It took all of four seconds for LA to score. Kopitar won the ensuing left circle faceoff against Laughton back to Drew Doughty. The puck rotated from Doughty to Kevin Fiala and then back to Kopitar in the deep slot. From above the circles, Kopitar drilled a shot past Hart. The assists went to Fiala and Doughty.
The Flyers almost immediately retook the lead at 10:27. Alllson took the puck to the net. Stopped initially by Copley, Allison knocked home his own rebound. Hayes and Provorov assisted.
The Kings struck right back to forge a 2-2 tie at 11:40.Kempe circled around the net, where Hart stumbled a bit at the post to his right and Sanheim gave chase. Kopitar was open in the low slot to take a centering feed and score. The assists went to Kempe and Byfield.
Sanheim was called for hooking Viktor Arvidsson in the defensive zone at 13:32. The Flyers killed it off successfully.
At 17:14, Provorov was guilty of a giveaway. A Blake Lizotte shot from near the right hash marks hit the crossbar and stayed out of the net.
Kempe got a holding penalty on Farabee in the neutral zone at 18:13 . The Flyers took 14 seconds of carryover power play time into the second period.
2) The two teams traded off 14 shots apiece in the first period amid the alternating goals. Shot attempts were 27-19 LA. Scoring chances were 9-7 Kings with a 5-4 high-danger edge for LA. The Kings dominated on faceoffs, winning 16 while the Flyers only won 6. Danault won five of six while Kopitar won five of seven.
3) The remaining power play time for the Flyers passed uneventfully. JVR got a tripping penalty -- his second of the game -- as he battled Doughty for a puck and pushed his skate with the stick at 1:45.
The Flyers killed off the van Riemsdyk penalty but Deslauriers was immediately called for tripping Byfield along the defensive boards at 3:51. The Flyers killed off the penalty emphatically.
van Riemsdyk landed a hard hit on Samuel Fagemo near the offensive zone blueline at 7:09. The Flyers' 4th line iced the puck at 7:51. LA controlled the draw and pressured. Kempe fired a one-timer wide from the left slot. Kopitar was denied by Hart on a bid from below the right circle at 8:29. It was the first shot on goal for either team in the second period. A TV timeout ensued.
The Laughton line pressured heavily on the next shift with three shots on goal including one for DeAngelo in close. Copley made the save. At the other end of the ice, Anderson-Dolan fired a right circle shot on net.
Philly retook the lead at 10:38. Frost took the puck out high off a between-the-legs pass from van Riemsdyk. With Frost up high, Ristolainen went to the net down low. Frost shot the puck toward the net. JVR tipped it and it went right to Ristolainen. The big defenseman finished it off on the backhand. Philly had some puck luck on the bounce right to Ristolainen. The assists went to van Riemsdyk and Frost.
JVR had a point blank chance at the doorstep at 13:56. From behind the net, Frost made a quick backhanded pass in front. Copley made one of his best stops of the game. At 13:19, York carried the mail and fired a shot on net from the left circle.
A dangerous looking LA rush resulted in a Kempe one-timer from the left circle. Hart read it all the way and made the save look easy.
At Ristolainen was called for a boarding minor on a hit on Blake Lizotte just outside the Philadelphia defensive blueline. Hart made a nice stop on a Danault shot from the left circle.
The Flyers killed the penalty but the Kings scored at 18:36 to make it 3-3. Fagemo beat Frost over the middle from the left side and had time and space to measure and rifle a shot past Hart. The lone assist went to Lizotte.
Byfield was called for tripping Laughton at 19:19. Frost won the ensuing left circle faceoff against Lizotte. Subsequently, Frost put a shot from high on the left side through a partial JVR screen (a tip attempt was unsuccessful). As the period wound down to the final seconds, Mikey Anderson attempted a hip check on Konecny. The Flyers took exception. Pushing and shoving ensued. Konecny and Anderson received offsetting roughing penalties.
The Flyers took 1:21 of carryover power play time into the third period.
4) Second period shots -- in what started as quite a low-event period and then opened up again -- were 11-7 in LA's favor. Shot attempts were 22-11 Kings. Scoring chances were 16-6 to the Kings' advantage but high-danger chances favored the Flyers, 3-1. The Kings won 13 faceoffs to nine by the flyers (29-15 edge to LA through two periods). Danault was 8-for-11 through two periods. Cates was 4-for-18 for the Flyers.
5) The Flyers were unable to generate a shot during their remaining power play. LA had the lone shot on goal through 3:18. At 4:47, Hart made the second of back-to-back saves on Sean Walker and a rebound attempt by Anderson-Dolan.
The Flyers responded with back-to-back strong shifts, including shots by MacEwen and Deslauriers. But Hart had to come up with a tough save on a deflection in the low slot by Kopitar at 6:47
The Flyers iced the puck at 7:35. This time, Cates won the draw and the Flyers easily chipped out for a line change.
The Kings generated a scramble around Hart's net at 8:16 as Rasmus Kupari followed up his own initially blocked shot by Seeler. Again, pushing and shoving ensued after the whistle. There were no calls. Shots were 8-3 LA.
Frost was blatantly interfered with away from the puck as the third period reached the midway mark. Annoyed, Frost delivered a hit on Anderson behind the LA net, and then Anderson returned the favor when Frost had the puck.
A Laughton shot (Philly's fifth of the period) generated a rebound. LA recovered. WIth time ticking below seven minutes left -- after calling the game ultra-tight for two periods -- referees Michael Marcovic and Steve Kozarl looked on impassively as TIppett was grabbed and spun around. At the other end of the ice, DeAngelo got away with a potential penalty on Iafallo.
With 4:01 remaining in regulation, DeAngelo blocked an Arvidsson shot out of play.A TV timeout followed. Cates took the ensuing left circle draw against Danault and lost it cleanly. No LA chances ensued.
In the final 17.1 seconds of the third period, Farabee won a battle down low. Cates batted it on net.
Through regulation, shots were 35-30 in LA's favor. The game went to overtime. In the third period, shots on goal were 10-9 LA. Shot attempts were 68-47 Kings. Third period scoring chances were 7-5 Kings with a 4-1 high danger edge. Through regulation, LA had 38 scoring chances to 31 for Philly (13-8 high-danger per Natural Stat Trick). Third period faceoffs were 11-6 LA (40-21 Kings through regulation).