BOSTON – The streak lives, but not without some real drama.
Trailing 2-1 with 9:24 to play in the third period, the Flyers tied the score on a power-play goal by Oskar Lindblom, then got a power-play goal by Travis Sanheim with 2:04 left in the overtime for a 3-2 win Thursday night over the Bruins at TD Garden.
The Flyers’ winning streak now stands at six.
Columbus lost to Winnipeg, so the Flyers have now cut their playoff spot deficit from 14 points to nine in the past three games.
A statistic worthy of note: The Flyers were 1-20-3 when trailing after two periods prior to this game.
Lindblom redirected a puck into the Boston net for his tying goal. Sanheim ripped a shot home with one second left on a power play (courtesy of a Brad Marchand penalty) for the winner.
Philadelphia was just two for its previous 25 power plays before this game.
Coach Scott Gordon was impressed with the way the Flyers showed resolve in the third period and the overtime.
“I can’t say enough about the way the guys played tonight,’’ Gordon said. “That has to be the best game we’ve played – from a little bit of a slow start but nothing we could not recover from.
“From top to bottom, a great effort from a lot of guys.’’
The Flyers dominated the second period, outshooting the Bruins by a 17-7 margin, but still fell behind by a 2-1 score on David Pastrnak’s second goal of the game.
Pastrnak scored at 5:11, tipping a shot out of the air past Carter Hart.
It was Pastrnak who gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first period. At 3:05, with the Bruins on a power play, Pastrnak buried a shot from the left circle.
The penalty on the Flyers was given to Claude Giroux for hauling down Pastrnak as he drove to the net.
Giroux made up for that by scoring with 43.2 seconds to play. Jake Voracek’s pinpoint lead pass to Giroux sent him in all alone on Tuukka Rask and the Flyers captain made no mistake.
“We weren’t playing our best hockey in that period,’’ Giroux said during the first intermission. “I think we were sitting back a little too much but being able to tie it up 1-1 after the first was huge for us.’’
In the third period, Scott Laughton was awarded a penalty shot after he was pulled down by defenseman John Moore. But Rask easily turn aside Laughton’s forehand wrist shot attempt.
Then the Flyers’ rally began.
First Lindblom re-directed a Voracek shot past Rask to even the count and the Flyers had new life.
“It’s a good road win for us,’’ Sanheim said. “We battled back and stayed in it. We found a way to get one on the power play (in OT).’’
Funny how the power play made the difference, given the Flyers are last in the NHL on the PP at 13 percent.
“Right now we’re looking for answers on the power play,’’ Sanheim said. “Just get confidence, make the right plays. It hasn’t been going in for us and it was good to see two go in tonight.’’
Laughton likes the resilience the Flyers are showing.
“That one felt good,’’ he said. “I thought we worked really hard and we got rewarded. After the second period, the message was, kind of do the same things. Guys are working for each other, blocking shots, battling in the corners. We’re making opportunities for ourselves, not just hoping pucks go the other ways for us.’’
Lindblom has three goals in his last five games after none in his previous 30.
“I feel good,’’ he said, “I feel confident right now.’’
Giroux also saw merit in how the Flyers refused to let down after falling behind. They finished outshooting the Bruins, 41-25, the most Boston has been outshot this year, home or road.
“We stuck with it,’’ he said. “Stuck with the game plan. These kinds of wins, they feel a little bit better.’’
Getting the victory at TD Garden, scene of some recent Flyer disasters felt good, too.
“There were about five minutes left in the game, I kind of had a flashback to when they scored twice with a minute left,’’ Giroux said. “Tonight, this one of our best games.’’
Said Hart: “I think that was the best, full complete game I’ve seen us play.’’
>Farabee takes in game
Flyers’ 2018 first-round draft pick Joel Farabee, attending nearby Boston University, was on hand to watch the Flyers and Bruins square off.
Farabee is having a good freshman season with the Terriers, recording eight goals and 20 points in 23 games. In addition, he scored a natural hat trick in a World Juniors Championships game against Kazakhstan in December.
Prior to BU, he had been competing for the U.S. National Under-18 development team.
“It’s nice to get a little change of pace from the national program,’’ Farabee said of his stint with BU. “The season’s been pretty good. I’ve had a lot of fun out there.’’
The Cicero, N.Y. native, who was selected 14th overall in the draft, said he met new GM Chuck Fletcher for the first time at the game.
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