TAMPA, Fla. — The Flyers snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Tampa Bay Lightning with their dramatic 3-2 win Tuesday night. They also extended their three-game winning streak to start the season, all of which are comeback wins.
This season, the Flyers have trailed the New Jersey Devils by one and the Vancouver Canucks and Lightning by two. They came back in each of those games, a marked difference from the 2021-22 Flyers.
Last season, there were no such wins. While they officially notched nine “comeback wins,” the fewest in the NHL, all of those were games where they trailed by one. In games where they fell behind two or more goals, they were simply defeated.
Tuesday night, two Steven Stamkos power-play goals put the Flyers behind the eight ball against the Lightning in the second period. For the next six minutes, the Flyers failed to find an answer. But when Scott Laughton scored on a rebound midway through the period it changed the tide.
The Flyers still allowed the Lightning long offensive possessions, but they also put together strong minutes in the offensive zone. When the Lightning started the third period with a Stamkos penalty, the Flyers took advantage and tied the game when James van Riemsdyk tipped Kevin Hayes’ shot in. Noah Cates broke the tie with an unassisted goal with just over seven minutes left, firing a turnaround wrister over the shoulder of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Searching for a spark
Nine minutes and one second into the game, Flyers coach John Tortorella addressed his team with lots of waving arms and sharp gestures. Immediately out of the timeout, Nicolas Deslauriers dropped the gloves with fellow fighting heavyweight Pat Maroon.
In the first two games, Deslauriers’ physicality has helped to energize the team, ultimately to victory. Tuesday, he created a smaller spark that flickered, but it slowly grew. Helped by a power play, the Flyers cut an 8-2 shot deficit into a 10-6 deficit in the first. They played slightly faster and tighter and managed to escape the uneven first tied at zero.
The Flyers dropped the gloves again following a Lightning power-play goal and an offensive onslaught in the first. Justin Braun went to the box for fighting, but Zack MacEwen ended up in the box for roughing, as well. Instead of sparking a comeback, the scrum quickly led to another Lightning power-play goal from Stamkos to make it 2-0. But the Flyers played a more even game from there. They managed to get out of their own zone and started to slowly claw their way back.
Shots at Hart
Amalie Arena rang with “Vassy” cheers as they watched their decorated goalie Vasilevskiy make jaw-dropping saves. On the other end of the ice, Carter Hart went unlauded by the opposing crowd, but he made just as many show-stopping saves and carried his team to a win.
With his teammates consistently struggling to get out of the defensive zone, Hart saw much more action than his counterpart. He faced 15 more shots than Vasilevskiy faced, and many weren’t just routine saves. Hart stopped breakaways, point-blank shots, and rebound attempts, making one final save with under two seconds to go to preserve the lead. Hart made 37 saves on 39 shots, while his teammates helped the cause by blocking 16 shots in front of him.
Switching lines
Training camp may be over, but tryouts aren’t. Veterans and young guys have to fight for their spots, even within a game. Tortorella proved that in the Flyers’ most sluggish start yet.
MacEwen, who was called up Monday to play on the fourth line, came out with fire and moved up to the third line. He sat in the box for four minutes yet he also was involved with three shots on goal and seven hits. The most recent call-ups have had the least minutes in each game, but MacEwen broke the pattern.
The bottom six weren’t the only ones subject to Tortorella’s tinkering. He moved Joel Farabee up to play with Kevin Hayes and Travis Konecny on the top line while Scott Laughton moved to Morgan Frost and Wade Allison’s line. Laughton’s earlier goal had been set up by a pass from Frost to Egor Zamula, with Laughton burying the rebound from the Russian defenseman’s initial shot.
While the second Flyers goal was scored on the power play, Cates scored the final goal while playing with his adjusted line.
What’s next
The Flyers head to Sunrise, Fla. to play the Florida Panthers in the second game of their back-to-back. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
