Flyers win sixth straight road game in a shootout

There’s something about playing on the road which has brought out the best in the Flyers this season.
Usually pro hockey teams sport better records at home but the Flyers seem to do their best work when they’re up against it in hostile environments.
The numbers tell the story: 15 wins at home this season; 18 wins on the road.
The Flyers made it two straight on their three-game road trip on Thursday night, outlasting the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3, in a shootout decision at Crypto.com Arena. It was their sixth straight road win, all of them after the end of regulation time.
In a closely contested game, the Flyers took a 3-2 lead into the third period only to be tied by a power-play goal from Artemi Panarin at 10:28.
That left it up to a shootout. And, as usual, Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored for the Flyers in a 2-0 decision.
The Flyers were without the services of three players. Captain Sean Couturier was sidelined by an upper-body injury. Also, Denver Barkey and Luke Glendening were scratched.
So the Flyers went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Forward Garrett Wilson made his Flyers’ debut. Just called up from Lehigh Valley where he was captain of the Phantoms, Wilson wore jersey No. 10.
Also, coach Rick Tocchet moved Emil Andrae, normally a defenseman, into center duty on the fourth line and that move seemed to work out OK.
“Huge win for us,” Tocchet said in a televised interview after the game. “Proud of the guys, they dug in. Had some guys playing positions they’re not used to. It was a good effort.”
Zegras, who turns 25 on Friday, continues his mastery in the shootout. Right now he has the highest success percentage in the history of the tiebreaker.
The Flyers refused to give up after Los Angeles tied it.
“It’s nuts,” Zegras said. “We have so much belief in how we do things here. Andrae stepping up and playing center tonight. . .the penalty kill was unbelievable. That was a big two points for sure.”
Noah Cates finished with a goal and an assist. He epitomizes that never-quit attitude.
“Just blocking shots,” he replied when asked about the Flyers stubborn style. “Kind of a gutsy start. We could have folded but we stuck with it. A huge two points. We’re having a ton of fun.”
Sam Ersson played one of his best games of the season and picked up the win in goal for the Flyers.
Down 1-0 after one period, the Flyers came roaring back in the second.
They scored three goals and took a 3-2 lead into the third period. And they are 19-0-3 when leading after two periods.
The Flyers needed only 26 seconds to initially tie on a goal by Travis Konecny. That was matched by Anze Kopitar just 21 seconds later, who used a fortuitous bounce off the end boards.
Noah Cates tied it on a goal from a goalmouth scramble at 4:12. Cates took control of a loose puck before goalie Darcy Kuemper could cover.
Then the Flyers went ahead on Travis Sanheim’s 61st career goal at 6:59. He fired a point shot through a Carl Grundstrom screen.
The goal moved Sanheim into sole possession of fifth place on the Flyers’ alltime defense scoring list.
“We did a much better job in the second,” Sanheim said in a televised second intermission interview. “We created more (offensive) zone time. Got some good looks and capitalized on them.”
Sanheim acknowledged the Flyers are a resilient bunch, battling throughout the game despite missing three players.
“Just the group that we got,” Sanheim said. “The character in the room. A willingness to win games. Unfortunate guys are out but next man up.”
The Kings posted the only goal of the first period.
Quinton Byfield ended an 18-game goal drought when he connected with only 27.6 seconds left on the clock.
Cam York was a bit slow getting over to the corner, and basically gave the puck to Trevor Moore, which gave him enough space to find Byfield in front for a shot past Ersson.
Philadelphia did not generate a shot on goal for the first 13 minutes of the game and finished the first period with only three.

>Last game vs. Kopitar

It looks like Thursday night’s game will be the Flyers’ last against Kopitar, who has announced he will retire at the end of the season.
Tocchet said Kopitar has been one of the game’s most complete players. He’s a two-time Selke Trophy winner for league’s best defensive forward and played the top pro game for two decades. Recently he passed Marcel Dionne for the Kings’ alltime scoring lead.
“He plays a 200-foot game, he plays the right way,” Tocchet said of Kopitar before the game. “I think guys like him and (Sidney) Crosby, if they wanted to they could probably get 20 more points (per season).”

>Short shots

The Flyers complete the three-game road trip with a meeting against the Sharks on Saturday afternoon, 4 p.m., in San Jose. . .The top four on the Flyers’ alltime defense scoring list: Mark Howe, 138; Eric Desjardins, 93; Tom Bladon, 67; Ivan Provorov, 65.