It looked for all the world like the Flyers were about to lose another close game in regulation time on Wednesday night in Nashville.
That’s when Sean Couturier spotted Morgan Frost charging to the net. A perfect pass, which deflected off Travis Sanheim, resulted in Frost lifting the puck past goaltender Juuse Saros for a goal with just 11.4 seconds left in regulation time.
Then at 2:31 of OT, Couturier scored the game winner for a 3-2 victory over the Predators at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The captain tipped in a pass from Travis Konecny for the deciding goal.
The Flyers lead the NHL in comeback wins registered either in the third period or overtime with six.
Couturier has scored in three straight games after scoring in only one game in the first 20.
“It wasn’t pretty but we found a way to win,” Couturier said in a televised interview. “Guys battled hard to the end. It was one of those nights where the execution wasn’t there but we found a way to get the two points and that’s all that matters.”
It was a fine goaltending effort by Aleksei Kolosov, who made a number of highlight saves. He was also aided by 32 blocked shots by the skaters in front of him.
The Flyers’ record improved to 10-10-3.
The game’s outcome was in doubt right to the end. Philadelphia entered the third period down by only a goal but couldn’t get the equalizer until Frost scored.
Over the years, the Flyers have struggled in overtime but there has been some improvement under Tortorella.
“I think over the last two years we’ve improved our game without the puck,” Laughton said of the five-minute tiebreaker. “We’re not giving up as many goals in OT. We’re being patient, waiting for our chances. It just shows the growth in our young players.”
Coach John Tortorella indicated his team might have gotten outplayed but still found a way.
“I think we were trying but we just couldn’t get to our game completely,” he said. “As I’ve said the past two games, we just try to keep on playing, find our game. That’s what we were talking about, we’re just one shot away.”
Scott Laughton scored a goal at 12:48 of the first period to break an 18-game scoring drought.
Laughton squeezed a shot past Saros, getting some help from Ryan Poehling and firing a shot home on the short side from the left circle to tie the score 1-1.
That deadlock didn’t last long.
Nashville struck back at 16:48. Ryan O’Reilly, who entered the game with only three goals this season, somewhat duplicated Laughton’s play, beating Kolosov short side from the left wing.
The Predators scored first with defenseman Roman Josi circling the Flyers net, then banking a shot off Sanheim’s leg at 6:17.
Although the second period went scoreless, Philadelphia spent most of the 20 minutes fending off Nashville offensive chances. Kolosov was particularly sharp during a Predators power play early in the period when the Flyers were bottled up in their own end for more than a minute and couldn’t get a line change.
After giving up the two goals in the first period, Kolosov came up with one timely save after another as the Predators applied consistent pressure at times over the final 40 minutes.
When the game ended, Sanheim said what a lot of players were thinking.
“Just staying with it, staying patient,” he said. “It wasn’t our best effort. Found a way to stay in the game and get one late. End up probably stealing two points. That’s the way hockey is sometimes. We’ll take the two points and move on
>Ristolainen on the attack
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen acknowledges he’s trying to get a little more involved offensively and it looked that way in the first half of Wednesday night’s game.
In fact, he drove a Nashville player into the boards deep in the Predators’ defensive zone in the first period.
Couturier has noticed a difference.
At the morning skate, the captain said Ristolainen has tried to impose his will pretty much all over the ice.
“I think there’s always great upside to his game,” Couturier said. “Big right-hand D-man, physical, can skate. Those guys are always hard to play against. When he was in Buffalo, he was always one of those pain-in-the-butt guys to play against. You had to fight for every inch out there.
“It’s nice to see him contributing now on the offensive side of the game and it’s nice to see him do well.”
Tortorella likes what he’s seen of late.
“When he moves his legs, he’s a really good player,” the coach said.
>Short shots
Konecny opened the night third in NHL scoring since Oct. 26. . .The Flyers return to action on Friday afternoon when they play host to the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts have been the source of numerous trade rumors of late with captain Chris Kreider topping the list of suspected targets. . .Nashville defenseman Luke Schenn, a former Flyer, leads the list of all-time NHL defensemen for hits with 3,448. . .Flyers rookie defenseman Helge Grans played in his fifth straight game since being called up from Lehigh Valley as Egor Zamula and Erik Johnson were scratched. . .Josi entered the game having scored at least one career goal against every NHL team except the Flyers. . .Laughton’s goal was the first of his career vs. Nashville.
