PHILADELPHIA – The second halves of back-to-back games have not been kind to the Flyers this season.
Just a glance at the stat sheet will tell you they were only 1-4 in the back end of those bracketed encounters prior to Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Wells Fargo Center.
Coming off a disappointing 6-4 defeat at Detroit on Wednesday night, the Flyers needed to find a way to prevail against the odds.
But it didn’t happen. Warren Foegele’s goal at 1:54 of the third period broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Kings on to a 7-3 victory over the Flyers, who gave up four goals in the third period while scoring none, losing their third straight game.
The Flyers’ home record dropped to 7-9-1. And they slid back under .500 overall at 14-15-4.
After Foegele’s goal, Anze Kopitar scored his second goal of the game at 10:39 to secure the Kings’ victory.
Coach John Tortorella knew facing the powerhouse Kings without a rest day was going to be a tall task.
The Flyers played a strong second period but kind of unraveled in the third.
“Good team we played against,” the coach said. “Couldn’t sustain it (second period to third period). That’s four faceoff goals in the last two games.”
The Flyers were up 3-2 with less than a minute to go in the second period. Ultimately, the Kings’ goal with just 45 seconds left in the middle frame began a string of five straight goals which proved the Flyers’ undoing.
“Their goal at the end of the second period I think is a really big play,” Tortorella said. “Those last-minute goals – you know, we come back, have a lead; it hurts you. It’s a big play because we could have gone into the third period leading.”
Indeed. The Flyers are 8-0-3 when leading after two periods but just 2-3-0 when they’re tied.
During a back-and-forth second period, each team added a pair of goals and the score stood 3-3.
A goal by Tanner Jeannot just 1:31 into the period put the Kings ahead 2-1. Then Foerster went to work, scoring back-to-back goals. The first came at 11:30 off a set-up from Scott Laughton. Then, right after a penalty to Foerster ended, he was stationed in front of goalie Darcy Kuemper and finished off a feed from Morgan Frost at 15:04.
It looked like the Flyers might take a one-goal lead into the second intermission, which would have given them a big advantage. But the Kings scored with time running out when a loose puck slid under Aleksei Kolosov’s glove and Kopitar had an easy tap-in.
From there, the Flyers seemed to lose most of their energy when the third period began.
“We had a great second there,” Foerster said. “In the third, they just capitalized on a bunch of their chances. We were trying to push and we got caught a couple times. Just a couple unlucky breaks. But I think we can bounce back for sure.”
Added Frost: “Just a couple defensive lapses and the goals off faceoffs. You can’t have that many. But we have to find a way to keep those out of our net. You’re tied going into third period. That’s where you want to be.”
The teams traded first-period goals, with Kevin Fiala connecting first for Los Angeles and Noah Cates countering for the Flyers.
Fiala struck at 10:53 when he got in behind the defense pairing of Travis Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale by way of a pass from Phillip Danault. The King forward deked past Kolosov to give the Kings an early lead.
Cates didn’t waste time getting the equalizer. Bobby Brink set up the play and Cates had no one to beat but Kuemper. One shoulder fake later and it was 1-1 at 14:11.
After the game, Cates talked about the problems the Flyers are having with consistency.
“I mean when we’re coming back or get the lead, I think we have to play the same way,” he said. “I think when we get those leads, I think we’re being a little lackadaisical and it’s ending up in the back of our net. We just have to tighten down all 60 minutes, or especially after a lead change.”
>Short shots
The Flyers stay home and play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. . .After three games off, defenseman Emil Andrae returned to action and was paired with Egor Zamula. . .Matvei Michkov’s no-points mini-slump hit four games, tying his longest drought of the season. . .Flyers entered the game leading the NHL in blocked shots with 601 and ranked second in takeaways with 194. . .Travis Konecny needs just three more games to hit the 600 mark. . .Quinton Byfield scored into an empty net in the closing minutes for the Kings’ sixth goal. Then Fiala connected for his second to account for the final margin.
