Flyers’ eight-game win streak ends
Philly gets a point by forcing game into overtime after late goal
PHILADELPHIA — At least they didn't go down without a fight.
Even though the Flyers' eightgame winning streak came to an end in a shootout Thursday night, they did manage to rally late to salvage a point.
Jake Voracek tied the score at 2-2 with 17.6 seconds to play.
With the Philadelphia net empty, Claude Giroux set up Voracek in the slot and his shot from the left hash mark beat Jonathan Quick short side.
In the shootout, the Flyers got goals from Giroux and Nolan Patrick but came up short by a 3-2 margin. Tyler Toffoli scored the winning goal for the Kings in their 3-2 victory.
The Flyers had been allowing plenty of shots in recent games but they had rookie goaltender Carter Hart playing at an elite level.
In Thursday night's game against Los Angeles, goalie Anthony Stolarz played well, too.
The Flyers fell behind 1-0 at 8:46 of the first period. Shayne Gostisbehere got left at the blue line as the Kings entered the zone. Kyle Clifford set up Austin Wagner for a 20-footer past Stolarz.
Outshot by an 18-11 margin in the first period, the Flyers had more energy in the second period.
They finally broke through against Quick at the seven-minute mark.
Giroux dove to his knees to chip the puck to Sean Couturier, who backhanded a short shot under Quick before the goalie could get set.
But the Kings came back to regain the lead at 12:33.
Again, Gostisbehere was left in the dust, forcing Radko Gudas to face Brendan Leipsic and Adrian Kempe in a two-on-one situation. The Kings hit the line with speed and Stolarz couldn't get over to stop Kempe's shot.
The Flyers nearly tied it in the closing seconds during a power play but Couturier's shot went past Quick a split-second after the horn sounded.
Short shots
The Flyers host the Anaheim Ducks Saturday afternoon . . . Over the past nine games, the Flyers have been outshot eight times. Their only exception was last Thursday's win at Boston . . . The Flyers are only the fourth team this century to have both an eight-game winning streak and an eight-game winless streak in the same season. The others: Jackets, 2015; Sharks, 2006; Capitals, 2001 . . . The Flyers did not take a penalty, the third time this season they managed to stay out of the box . . . Kings forward Jeff Carter, an ex-Flyer, did not play due to injury.
Couturier won’t complained about this move
On some teams, moving your top goal scorer to the second powerplay unit might be taken as a bit disrespectful.
But when a team like the Flyers comes up with seven power-play goals in three games – a big part of keeping an eight-game winning streak alive – no one's going to complain.
Certainly not Sean Couturier, he of the team-leading 21 goals.
“We talked in Boston before we made the change,'' coach Scott Gordon said after Thursday morning's optional practice at the Skate Zone. “I just told him what my thoughts were.
“He was really good about it. I think he actually likes playing the net front (James van Riemsdyk has taken over that role on the first unit), so that was an opportunity for him (Couturier) to be with that unit in that position and he's done a really good job on it.''
Going into Thursday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings, the Flyers had moved up from 31st (last, at 13 percent) in the NHL all the way up to 23rd (16.6 percent).
The Flyers had only 19 powerplay goals in their first 50 games and now have connected for those seven goals in the past three.
Couturier has been working well with Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom on that second unit. In Monday night's 2-1 win over Vancouver, Lindblom freed up Konecny for a pass to Couturier for a power-play goal.
“[Couturier] could have certainly handled the conversation a lot differently,'' Gordon said. “He was nothing but positive about it.
“If anything, it made my job easier. It's a great reaction by one of your leaders. Some guys might have taken it as a slap in the face but he didn't.''
Gordon is aware that the Flyers had only one, yes one, power-play goal from the second unit last year.
He's been experimenting with the overall power play since he got here, including a brief stab at five forwards on the ice for the first unit.