PHILADELPHIA – Even when they play a last-place team like the San Jose Sharks on friendly home ice, the Flyers seem to have a flair for the dramatic.
With the exception of an empty-net goal here and there, all six of the Flyers’ victories this season have come by a narrow margin.
It certainly keeps the fans on the edge of their seats.
And it was more of the same Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center as the Flyers, just back from a tough three-game trip through Florida, got off to a three-goal lead against the lowly Sharks, then watched the entire edge slip away, the final piece of the San Jose rally coming with 2:44 to play on a goal by Barclay Goodrow to send the game to overtime.
In the tie-breaking shootout session, Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny scored and the Flyers pulled out a 4-3 win at the Wells Fargo Center.
What appeared to be a comfortable 3-0 lead for the Flyers became slightly less secure as the Sharks scored twice near the end of the second period.
The recent two-game benching for Michkov apparently had its upside as he finished with his fourth two-point game of the season for the Flyers, including his fifth goal in the second period.
Michkov took an outlet pass from center Ryan Poehling and broke in alone on goaltender Vitek Vanecek, sending a puck between the goaltender’s skates at 5:09 of the second period for the three-goal edge.
The 19-year-old Russian said the brief time off was somewhat productive.
“It’s good to watch,” Michkov said through an interpreter. “Get some time off and rethink.”
Then he added with a grin: “As far as being in Florida, it’s a good time to get a good rest.”
Coach John Tortorella liked the way Michkov responded from his “break.”
“He played good,” Tortorella said. “I wasn’t worried about how he would respond. He competes.”
The Sharks got back into it at 15:29 when defenseman Jack Thompson stuck out his skate and guided home a pass from William Eklund past goaltender Samuel Ersson, just back after suffering an injury in the game at Carolina last Tuesday.
Then Mikael Granlund used an Eklund setup to cut the Flyers’ lead to a single goal at 18:33, firing home a shot far side from the right circle.
Going into the game tied for the fewest amount of points (four) earned on home ice this season, the Flyers wasted little time establishing an early edge in this game.
Defenseman Erik Johnson, playing in his 998th NHL game, needed only 1:40 to get the Flyers on the board. He found himself unguarded racing down the slot after a nifty pass from Anthony Richard. Johnson ripped a shot past Vanecek for the 1-0 lead.
Perhaps Johnson was a little too demonstrative with his celebration because he got into it with the Sharks’ Will Smith, who went after Michkov right after the goal was scored, just three seconds after the ensuing faceoff.
“It felt good to get an early lead in a bit of a trap game coming off the road,” Johnson said. “They were on a back-to-back (they played in New Jersey on Sunday night) and we wanted to pounce on them early.”
As for standing up for Michkov, Johnson said: “I’m not much of a fighter but if I have to take a few punches to let your teammates know you’ve got their back, I think that’s important.”
The Flyers made it 2-0 at 15:56. With the Sharks’ Mikael Granlund in the penalty box for holding onto defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s stick during a rush, Konecny set up shop at the right hash marks and was able to one time a pass from Michkov.
The Flyers’ power play had been streaky over the past week or so thus it was good to see it get cranked up again.
“I mean we’ve been working at it,” Konecny said. “Like kind of where guys are going to be and getting comfortable. I mean we’re still only 16 games into a new group of guys so it’s still getting some familiarities.”
>Andrae shoots at will
Rookie defenseman Emil Andrae has been generating offense with his play at the point. He’s agile and has a big shot.
“I’m trying to shoot when I have to and pass when I have to,” he said. “I still think I can shoot a lot more, getting pucks through to the net. I think I did a pretty good job today.”
>Ersson at his best in OT
Ersson had to be at his best when regulation time ended tied because the Flyers were shorthanded for the first two minutes of overtime due to a penalty to Michkov.
“I think we have a lot of belief,” said Ersson, mindful of the Flyers’ third-ranked NHL penalty kill at nearly 90 percent. “We’re very confident in our box play. And I think it shows. They (the Sharks) got some shots off but they were mostly to the outside. We did a very good job.”
Added Tortorella: “When it came to the shootout, ‘Ers’ just seemed so calm. It’s a big reason why we won.”
>Short shots
The Flyers are off Tuesday and return to game action on Thursday when they visit the Ottawa Senators. . . The Flyers’ three straight shootout games ties a team record set during the 2019-20 season. The NHL record is four.
