Flyers winning streak ends against Kings in shootout

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers' eight-game winning streak ended with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

The Flyers tied it 2-2 when Jakub Voracek scored with 18 seconds left in the third and goalie Anthony Stolarz pulled for the extra attacker.
"I don't think we even deserved a point today," Voracek said. "I think it was our weakest game out of our last nine. ... We got lucky to get one point, to be honest with you."
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Flyers highlights]
Tyler Toffoli scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout for the Kings (23-27-4), who won their third straight game. Jonathan Quick made 30 saves.
It was Toffoli's first goal in 11 shootout attempts in his seven NHL seasons. Ilya Kovalchuk and Adrian Kempe also scored for Los Angeles in the tiebreaker, and Claude Giroux and Nolan Patrick had Philadelphia's goals.
"We deserved that win," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "We felt that we were going to win it no matter what. ... Probably should have won it in OT, had a few chances there. Before they tied it up, we had about three breakaways in the third that we should have scored on and that would have put the game away. We deserved that the whole way through. No doubt."

Sean Couturier scored, and Giroux had two assists for Philadelphia (24-23-7), which is eight points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Stolarz made 37 saves.
It was the longest winning streak in the NHL and the longest for the Flyers since they won 10 straight from Nov. 27-Dec. 14, 2016.
"We didn't play our best game," Couturier said. "[Stolarz] was there to shut the door and gave us a chance to win. We got to do better in front of him."
Philadelphia thought it won the game in the third round of the shootout when the referee ruled Kempe's shot hit the crossbar. But video review showed the puck crossed the goal line.
"At the moment, I was let's say 90 percent sure it hit the white thing in the back (of the net)," Kempe said. "That was a good feeling obviously they confirmed it."
The Flyers were outshot 18-11 in the first period and fell behind 1-0 on Austin Wagner's goal off a give-and-go with Kyle Clifford at 8:46.
"I don't think anybody liked the first period," Philadelphia coach Scott Gordon said. "I thought the first half of it was OK. Then the last half we started playing slow, we didn't advance the puck, didn't get any puck pursuit in the offensive zone. Just real sloppy play."
Couturier tied it 1-1 at 7:00 of the second with his Flyers-leading 22nd goal. Giroux dove to whack a one-handed pass to Couturier in the slot, and he spun and backhanded a shot between Quick's skates.
Kempe finished a 2-on-1 with Brendan Leipsic to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 12:33 of the second. It was Kempe's ninth of the season and fourth in a three-game goal streak.
The Kings are last in the Western Conference but are 5-2-0 in their past seven games to move within five points of the second Western wild card into the playoffs.
"We're getting closer and closer," Kempe said. "We haven't played good enough so far in the season, but I think the last couple weeks we've been starting to figure it out. The structure is there, the team game is really good there the past couple games. We've got to take that with us. Take it one game at a time."

They said it

"We feel good about ourselves, but we can't get too high. But our confidence is definitely growing." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty
"First half of the game I thought we gave away a lot of breakaways and odd-man rushes. We weren't sharp on details. But after that, whatever the score was, [Stolarz] gave us the chance. He made us believe and we battled back to get a big point. Down the road it might be huge." -- Flyers center Sean Couturier

Need to know

The Kings went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and are 11-for-11 in the past four games. ... Giroux has six points (two goals, four assists) in the past four games. ... Voracek has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak and 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in the past 12 games. ... Couturier has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.

What's next

Kings: At the Boston Bruins on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NBCSP, PRIME, NHL.TV)