The Flyers opened up their four-game homestand with a huge overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, extending their win streak to three games. Scott Hartnell scored twice for the Flyers, while Claude Giroux got the overtime goal with just 4.2 seconds left in OT. Chicago’s goals came from Andrew Shaw and Duncan Keith.
Ray Emery, who had a rough start in this one, buckled down after allowing two early Chicago goals and ended up making 23 of 25 saves on the Blackhawks. Antti Raanta, Corey Crawford’s backup, held off 34 of 37 Flyers shots.
The Blackhawks got an early lead thanks to Shaw’s goal at 2:29, after a blind drop pass from Brayden Schenn backfired and Shaw was able to get a rebound after Patrick Sharp’s attempt. Keith’s goal came shortly thereafter to put the Blackhawks up 2-0 after less than four minutes of play, but a lucky deflection landed in the Flyers’ favor as Hartnell was somehow able to get the puck in behind Raanta to cut the Hawks’ lead in half just about two minutes later. Chicago had the opportunity to add on to their lead when Michael Raffl slashed a player’s stick out of his hands and went to the penalty box at 7:08, but the Flyers’ penalty kill successfully shut their powerplay unit down and the score remained 2-1. Almost back-to-back Blackhawks penalties (:10 seconds of 5-on-3 play) didn’t lead to a tie game, but Hartnell’s second of the night did the trick after some great work on the forecheck by Matt Read and Claude Giroux. The Flyers seemingly snapped into action after going down 2-0 early on, and finished the first period outshooting the Blackhawks 14-7.
Just over three minutes into the second period, a fight between Sheldon Brookbank and Zac Rinaldo gave them dual five-for-fighting penalties. It may have been the most exciting part of an otherwise (mostly) quiet period that did not see either team tack on additional goals. There were plenty of chances for both Chicago and Philadelphia, as both teams took penalties, but neither team was able to capitalize. After a rocky start to the game, Emery really settled in and was strong in the second, holding off 11 shots from the Blackhawks. The Flyers managed just six shots in twenty minutes of second period action, and Raanta was good in his end despite some close calls.
A third period marred by missed opportunities ended the same way the second did – with the game tied at 2. The Flyers had another three power play chances and failed to tip the score in their favor, but still got 14 shots on Raanta while holding the Blackhawks to just five shots.
There were many, many close calls in overtime, and just when it seemed like the game was about to head into a shootout, captain Giroux scored the game-winner with just seconds left, bringing an exciting game to an exciting end.
Penalty summary:
Michael Raffl, PHL – slashing (7:08, 1st)
Brandon Bollig, CHI – tripping (11:33, 1st)
Marcus Kruger, CHI – holding the stick (13:23, 1st)
Zac Rinaldo, PHL – five minutes for fighting (3:10, 2nd)
Sheldon Brookbank, CHI – five minutes for fighting (3:10, 2nd)
Marian Hossa, CHI – holding (14:08, 2nd)
Nicklas Grossmann, PHL – holding (16:42, 2nd)
CHI, served by Bryan Bickell – too many men on the ice (0:53, 3rd)
Andrew Shaw, CHI – tripping (4:14, 3rd)
Andrew MacDonald, PHL – high-sticking (7:20, 3rd)
Wayne Simmonds, PHL – five minutes for fighting (13:52, 3rd)
Wayne Simmonds, PHL – slashing (13:52, 3rd)
Bryan Bickell, CHI – five minutes for fighting (13:52, 3rd)
Bryan Bickell, CHI – slashing (13:52, 3rd)
Notes: Claude Giroux is on a four-game points streak… Matt Read has nine points in nine games… Scott Hartnell has four points in his last six games… The Flyers continue their homestand on Thursday night at 7pm against the Dallas Stars.
