With 13 minutes left in the game, Joel Farabee beat all the Vegas Golden Knights and their goalie for an open shot and a chance to win the game. He missed wide. And the game remained tied through the final 13 minutes until overtime, until the Philadelphia Flyers fell, 2-1.
After allowing an early shot on goal, the Flyers held strong for more than 11 minutes — until they didn’t. When they finally allowed the Golden Knights their second shot on goal, it went in, giving the Flyers yet another deficit to start the game.
The Flyers, however, have overcome seven one-goal deficits this season, tied for most in the league, and they showed the same ability to battle back when Scott Laughton broke his 16-game goalless streak by scoring in the second to tie it, 1-1.
Other than their propensity for blocking shots, the two teams brought different styles. The Flyers played hard, while the Golden Knights played with speed. While the Flyers laid down hits all over the ice, the Golden Knights didn’t try to match them. The styles evened out into a back-and-forth game.
The teams remained neck-and-neck through regulation, which pushed them to overtime. Just like in regulation, the Flyers dominated to start, but as soon as the Golden Knights had the chance, they capitalized with Jonathan Marchessault scoring on a breakaway.
As Adin Hill went to retrieve the puck behind his goal, he found himself stuck between two Flyers. He attempted to get it out and scramble back to his net. But Laughton took advantage of his distraction to steal the puck and then shoot it off Hill into the goal.
That goal was the equalizer after the Flyers found themselves down one. But it wasn’t the only trick the Flyers tried. In the first minutes of the game, Joel Farabee and Owen Tippett found themselves in a 2-on-1. Farabee looked to pass to Tippett. When he found it wasn’t there, he kept looking at Tippett as he took the shot himself. Later, James van Riemsdyk sent a between-the-legs pass to Morgan Frost to set up a shot followed by a wraparound pass from behind the goal to Zack MacEwen.
Hill stopped all those attempts, but they created chaos and displayed a confidence with the puck the Flyers desperately need more of.
It took van Riemsdyk a game to get back into it, but he showed just what the Flyers have been missing in the weeks he was out on Friday. He had gotten off to a hot start in October, and he infused skill and experience back into the lineup.
Working with Frost, a young, skilled player looking for consistency, and MacEwen, a grinder who has seized the opportunity for a bigger role this season, van Riemsdyk helped make the third line the most dynamic line on the team.
Together, the three spent lots of time around the front of the Golden Knights’ net. They created multiple scoring chances, with Frost and van Riemsdyk setting each other up with creative passing and MacEwen trying to clean up rebounds.
On the second shot on goal of the night, Carter Hart made the stop — or so he thought. After a pause, he reached out to grab the puck, which had taken a weird bounce in front of him, but William Carrier beat him to it and sent it into the goal.
Hart didn’t let that happen again. He made diving saves with his toe, quick grabs with his glove, and big reaches with his stick to stop the following 32 shots through regulation. When the Flyers went on the penalty kill in the final three minutes of the game, Hart was a major reason they came out unscathed.
While the Golden Knights ended up creating more offense than the Flyers, the game felt evenly matched because of Hart’s effort. He finished with 32 saves.
