Postgame 5: Flyers Steal a 3-2 Win in Nashville

The Philadelphia Flyers staged a late comeback to earn a 3-2 overtime win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday evening. Morgan Frost forced OT with 12 seconds left in regulation before Sean Couturier netted the winning goal in OT.

Team captain Couturier, who assisted on the tying goal before tallying the winner, has scored a goal in three straight games. Frost has potted goals in back-to-back games. The win lifted the Flyers' record to 10-10-3 heading into Thanksgiving in the United States.

The Flyers had a slow start to the first period, losing more puck battles than they won amid a 10-6 shot on goal and 29-15 shot attempt edge for Nashville. The teams traded off one somewhat fluky goal apiece before the Preds won a forechecking battle that turned into a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.

Caught in a line change during a 4-on-1, the Flyers fell behind, 1-0, at 6:17 of the first period. Roman Josi (5th goal of the season) swooped around the net and, attempting a pass to Filip Forsberg, instead put the puck into the net off defenseman Travis Sanheim's skate. Alex Carrier drew the lone assist.

Scott Laughton (3rd) tied the game at 12:44. Laughton's side-angle shot went off goaltender Juuse Saros' mid-section and inside the blocker into the net. The assist went to Ryan Poehling.

Ryan O'Reilly (4th) fired home a left-circle one-timer past goalie Aleksei Kolosov for a 2-1 lead at 17:18 of the opening period. The assists went to Gustav Nyquist and Brady Skej. The sequence started with the Predators winning a battle down low.

Early in the second period, a Nashvillle power play turned into prolonged puck possession as play went back to 5-on-5. The Flyers emerged unscathed but it took several minutes to regain equilibrium. Later, there was a stretch of 7:23 of whistle-free play in the scoreless frame.

Second period shots on goal were 9-7 Predators (19-13 Predators through two periods). Nashville had a 33-12 shot attempt edge (62-27 through two periods). The Flyers blocked 22 shot attempts by the Predators through two periods, led by five Rasmus Ristolainen blocks and four by Nick Seeler. In terms of elapsed time, the Flyers spent 5:43 in the defensive zone to 2:49 in the offensive zone.

Sanheim swept the puck away from the goal line eight minutes into the third period to prevent a goal. The third period featured six straight minutes of play without a whistle.

Unable to capitalize on their lone power play of the game, the Flyers pulled Kolosov for an extra attacker. Finally, at 19:48, the Flyers broke through to tie the score at 2-2. Frost (3rd of the season) went to the net to tip a Sanheim shot pass into the net. The assists went to Sanheim and Couturier.

The Flyers emerged victorious at 2:31 of overtime. Attacking the net, Couturier (6th) made a one-handed redirect of a feed from Travis Konecny. The secondary assist went to Ristolainen.

Final shots on goal were 27-23 in Nashville's favor (9-6 Flyers in the third period, 2-1 Predators in OT). Final shot attempts were 85-44 Nashville. Overall offensive zone time favored Nashville 15:42 to 11:17

Kolosov earned his second NHL win with 25 saves on 27 shots. Saros stopped 20 of 23 shots.

The Flyers were 0-for-1 on the power play. They went 1-for-1 on the PK.

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: Andrae, Frost, Couturier, Konecny, Michkov
PP2: Sanheim, Tippett Farabee, Foerster ,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

Frost played with a strong level of jump for the second straight game but had only a few "almost plays" to show for it until the final minute of regulation. On his game-tying deflection goal, Frost angled his stick against the grain and redirected the puck past Saros.

In overtime, Michkov hit the post on a breakaway. Couturier sealed the second point for Philly.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Be ready for a low-scoring game: It was a 2-1 game for the final 39-plus minutes of regulation. At last, however, the Flyers struck twice to win the game.

2. Between the pipes: Saros would have liked back the Laughton goal. Kolosov got help from Sanheim on a puck along the goal line. Overall, the Flyers rookie goalie stepped up when he needed to.

3.Farabee factor: The left winger skated 16:31 over 22 shifts. The closest he came to scoring was off a rebound in close in the final 3:30 of the third period with a chance to tie the game at 2-2. He had three shots on goal on five shot attempts.

4. Tippett-Frost-Michkov line: Head coach John Tortorella did a bit of line juggling in the latter portion of the game. Tippett (17:48 TOI, three shots on goal) moved up to the Couturier line. Tyson Foerster and Farabee each saw a couple shifts with Frost and Michkov.

5. Special teams battle: There were no power plays in the first period, but Nashville scored during a 4-on-4. The second period started out two minutes of 4-on-4 play, which became a 4-on-3 for the Preds for 1:01 after Michkov was called for roughing. With 2:23 left in the third period, Nashville was caught with too many men on the ice.