Forward Brayden Schenn had to wait for the result but his overtime score proved the game winner against the defending Stanley Cup champs.
By Josh Kaz
Former Flyers Jeff Carter was back in the building Tuesday night against his old squad. Credit: Lisa Gansky – Flickr: IMG_4666.
A controversial goal in overtime led the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday.
“Upon further review, the puck crossed the line before any contact. Good goal,” the referee exclaimed before emphatically pointing to center ice.
The Flyers jumped off their bench to mob center Brayden Schenn, who instantly became the hero of the night.
Schenn found himself on a breakaway in overtime, barreling down the ice with Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin hot on his tail.
Schenn let the shot go, Philadelphia’s 43rd of the game, and it appeared initially to have been stopped by Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Quick, however, drifted back into his net as Schenn was poking for a rebound, and both he and the puck trickled back into the cage.
“No goal, no goal,” the referee yelled before sending the call upstairs for video review. The “War Room” in Toronto got a good look at the play and correctly reversed the call on the ice, giving the Flyers their third victory in a row.
“It was an exciting finish to an exciting game,” Ray Emery told CSNPhilly afterwards. “It was a good home stretch for us. Now we have to go on the road and win some.”
Emery, the third star of the game, was just as exciting to watch as the finish he referred to, stopping 38 of 40 shots in his third straight start.
“He’s got a lot of confidence right now and it’s paying off for us,” Claude Giroux said during post-game interviews. “He’s a hard worker and he’s pretty hot right now.”
That hard work has paid off in a big way for the Flyers this season. Philadelphia has picked up points in every game Emery has started this season, going 4-0-1.
The Flyers got off to a great start, firing off 20 shots in the opening period–and, for just the second time this season, drawing first blood. Five minutes into the period, the red-hot Michael Raffl found a loose puck after a shot attempt from Giroux, and swatted it past Quick for his fifth goal of the season.
The Flyers tried to extend that lead on the Power Play; however, things went horribly wrong. Matt Read’s pass bounced over Michael Del Zotto’s twig. The equally red-hot Kings forward Tyler Toffoli scooped up the puck, sped down the ice unimpeded on a shorthanded breakaway, and beat Emery to the high glove side.
The Flyers responded late in the period to regain the lead with just 44 seconds on the clock when Jake Voracek found Chris VandeVelde in the slot. VandeVelde netted his first goal as a Flyer and first in the NHL since March 2012.
After a scoreless second period, ex-Flyer Mike Richards knotted the game at 2 early in the third. Richards was the fourth man in after the Kings’ three-on-two led to a couple of chances in front. He found the puck and scored his first goal of the season.
The goaltending duel then ensued. Back and forth the teams went, trading chances to the very end, but neither side could solve its adversary. Both goalies made 14 saves in the period, forcing overtime.
“It’s always nice scoring against the team that drafted you,” Brayden Schenn told reporters after the game. “But it’s a good team win.”
Game Notes:
- The Flyers have won three straight for the first time this season.
- The Kings were without their star Anze Kopitar, who sat out with an upper body injury. The news was so sudden that LA did not have time to call up any replacements, and played with only 19 players.
- Not once last season did Ray Emery start consecutive games. Tonight was his third start in a row.
- Jake Voracek, who was all over the ice tonight and was awarded the star of the game for his excellent play, picked up his 200th career assist. After the game, Voracek said, “I think [the first period] was the best of our season.” Voracek took 5 shots.
- Philadelphia outshot LA 43-40. The 83 combined shots were the most in any Flyers game this season. The 43 shots by Philadelphia was also a season high.
- Both teams went 0-2 on the PowerPlay.
- Shayne Gostisbehere played his second NHL game tonight. He logged 12:40 minutes of ice time while taking 1 shot and blocking a shot. He was a -1.
- The Flyers are above a .500 record for the first time this season, 4-3-2.
Drop The Puck:
The Flyers will look to extend their winning streak when they go on the road to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
