Airmen give up the lead with 0.3 seconds to go and suffer a heartbreaking loss at OT originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers conceded a crucial goal by 0.3 seconds before suffering a 5-4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.
Carolina’s last-minute comeback spoiled the Flyers’ youth-heavy rally.
John Tortorella’s club equalized two two-goal deficits and took a 4-3 lead in the third period.
The Hurricanes started the game 30-1-4 as they took the lead at the second break. On Saturday, they had a 3-2 lead going into the final verse, but goals from Joel Farabee and Brendan Lemieux gave the Flyers the lead.
But Martin Necas flushed a rebound with 0.3 ticks on the clock after Felix Sandstrom made an initial save to almost seal the game.
Sebastian Aho scored a hat trick with the OT winner just 28 seconds into the bonus session.
The Flyers (25-32-12) fell to 1-11 in overtime.
Tortorella’s team is 2-10-1 in the second game of consecutive sets and has not won a straight game since Jan. 9-14, when they won three games in a row.
Tyson Foerster scored his first career NHL goal with his well-publicized shot, ending in a two-point game.
Noah Cates also found the back of the net.
The Flyers are 1-1-1 on their seven-game homestand. They have lost 17 of their last 22 games (5-12-5).
“We can spit out our record in our back-to-backs. We don’t have a good record time,” Tortorella said before the game. “So I don’t even go to the back-to-backs. We have to consistently win ice hockey games.”
The Flyers were swept by the Hurricanes (45-15-8) in their four-game regular-season streak (0-2-2).
All four of the Flyers’ losses were by one goal. The Flyers have lost 20 times in games decided by a goal (9-8-12).
Carolina leads the Metropolitan Division and has the second most points in the NHL (98), behind only the Bruins (109).
It suffered a heavy loss this week when key forward Andrei Svechnikov was forced to undergo season-ending ACL surgery.
• A day after scoring five goals against a retiring Sabers, the Flyers faced one of the most structured and solid teams in the league.
But they were able to build the offensive breakout from the 5-2 win over Buffalo.
That’s nine goals in the last two games.
You just had to finish this one.
Prior to those two games, the Flyers had averaged just 2.05 goals per game in their last 20 games.
• Tortorella likes Foerster’s makeup. He recently praised the potential player’s poise with the puck and sees potential in the 21-year-old winger’s 6-foot-2, 194-pound height.
And of course it’s the shot that Foerster picked in the first round of the 2020 draft.
He drew the Flyers within 2-1 in the second period when Morgan Frost found him in transition.
After Sebastian Aho scored his second marker of the game to make it 3-1, the Flyers reduced it to a one-goal game. Foerster grabbed a rebound for Noah Cates late in the middle verse with the Flyers in a 5-on-3 power play.
In five games at the big club, Foerster has one goal and two assists.
The Flyers’ young forwards were a decidedly positive Saturday. Owen Tippett (two assists), Foerster (one goal, one assist), Cates (one goal, one assist), Frost (two assists) and Farabee (goal) had nine points combined.
Also, 27-year-old Lemieux, a trade-deadline acquisition, had a two-point performance.
• Sandstrom saw and suffered the hurricanes on the road nine days ago an unfortunate 1-0 defeat despite 28 saves.
He coped with another tough defeat against Carolina. The 26-year-old finished with 29 saves.
In the first period, Carolina pre-screened the Flyers for turnovers and a lot of defensive zone play.
Aho broke the ice with 5:08 in the opening frame and Brady Skjei made it 2-0 before the first break.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen improved to 11-4-3 with 28 saves against the Flyers.
• The home stand continues Tuesday when the Flyers welcome the Panthers (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Subscribe and rate Flyers Talk
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | stapler | art19 | youtube
Source : sports.yahoo.com