PHILADELPHIA – If the Flyers have designs on the playoffs, they are going to need more performances like the one they put forth on Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
The Flyers, trailing 2-0 after one period and 2-1 after two, rallied against the Los Angeles Kings to send the game to overtime. Even though they lost, 3-2, at 2:48 of the extra session on a goal by Quinton Byfield past Dan Vladar, they secured a hard-earned point and it was a step in the right direction.
Travis Konecny’s deflection goal just 25 seconds into the third period tied the score. Rasmus Ristolainen took a pass from Nikita Grebenkin at the right point and his shot went off Konecny into the net.
Coach Rick Tocchet sounded encouraged by the effort. The Flyers came within a whisker of winning this game in OT but Konecny’s shot rattled off a post and the Kings scored shortly after.
It was the Flyers’ first point in more than a week.
“Every team goes through it, not a lot of practice time and adversity hits,” Tocchet said. “So what happens is, it just snowballs. And we have to stop it. It’s all part of the process of learning adversity.
“I do like the result. We hung in there.”
After falling behind in a lackluster first period, the Flyers woke up in the second. They scored the only goal of the middle frame to close the deficit to 2-1 and held a 10-4 advantage in shots.
The Philly goal came on a power play. Konecny started a tic-tac-toe play with a pass to Bobby Brink, who relayed to Trevor Zegras for a putaway past goalie Darcy Kuemper at 39 seconds.
It was Zegras’ 20th goal of the season and the third time in his career he’s hit the 20 mark.
“We have to understand we have to play a certain way,” Tocchet said. “We did in the second and third. Cleaned stuff up.”
The players saw some positives as well.
“I thought we had a really strong second (period),” Nick Seeler said. “The process was there. I thought we started forechecking and I thought their ‘D’ got a little tired from the pressure we were putting on them. So those are definitely positives. Just a disappointing result.”
Tocchet gave the team a bit of a pep talk after that first period and it seemed to have the desired effect.
“The point is good, obviously,” Vladar said. “Should have had two but we regroup, come back. This is a confident group. It’s a tough stretch but it comes for every team. We have a young team. It’s up to the older guys, including myself, to bring up the confidence. We still believe.”
The Kings raced to a 2-0 lead and it could have been worse for the Flyers if a third L.A. goal had not been disallowed.
Adrian Kempe scored both goals for the Kings.
The first game at 3:10. Kempe was in position to score from close range after the Flyers couldn’t clear the area in front of Dan Vladar after several tries.
It was the 36th time the Flyers have allowed an opponent to score first this season.
Denver Barkey appeared to be late getting coverage on Kempe on the Kings’ second goal at 7:08. Veteran Corey Perry spotted Kempe open coming down the slot and Vladar had no chance.
The Kings appeared to get a third goal at 7:50 on a shot by Andrei Kuzmenko. But the Flyers challenged, claiming offside, and upon review the goal was overturned.
When it was over, the Flyers chose to emphasize the better points.
Zegras was asked about the mood in the locker room.
“I think we’re fine, we’re good,” he said. “It’s a long year. We’ve played really well at times. We’ve played well at times and lost. I think there are ups and downs in a season. We’re a very confident group and at the end of the day, that’s what we rely on.”
>Kolosov called up
With goalie Sam Ersson sidelined by injury suffered in Boston on Thursday, Aleksei Kolosov was called up from the Phantoms to back up Vladar. Also, center Lane Pederson was returned to Lehigh Valley.
>Vladar among leaders
Heading into Saturday’s game, Vladar was ranked among the top 10 in both goals-against average and save percentage for the 24 goaltenders who have played at least 30 games.
Vladar’s 2.49 GAA stood sixth and his .904 save percentage held down the 10th spot.
>Flyers’ 50-point season list
Konecny reached the 50-point mark for the sixth time in his career after a two-point game at Boston on Thursday night.
He now stands tied for 10th on the team’s alltime list for 50-point seasons.
The top 10: Bob Clarke, 14; Bill Barber, 12; Brian Propp, 10; Claude Giroux, 9; Eric Lindros, 8; Rick MacLeish, 8; Jakub Voracek, 7; John LeClair, 7; Mark Recchi, 7; Rod Brind’Amour, 6; Konecny, 6.
>Short shots
The Flyers have Sunday off for the Flyers Charities Carnival and resume practice on Monday. Then there are two games remaining before the Olympic break: Tuesday (home) vs. Washington and Thursday (home) vs. Ottawa. . .Through 53 games, Noah Cates is the Flyers’ plus-minus leader (plus-15) by a wide margin. . .The Flyers took their second too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty of the week. . .Emil Andrae was scratched for a third straight game. . .Konecny’s multi-point game was his 14th of the season.
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