Good night from four offseason additions not enough in Flyers' OT loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers couldn’t pull out a close game Thursday night, falling to the Golden Knights in overtime, 3-2, at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
They never led as Trevor Zegras and Noah Juulsen each had game-tying markers.
Rick Tocchet’s club was unable to convert on a power play with under five minutes to go in the third period.
“We had a good game, I don’t want to get negative, but the power play, we’re not getting any middle shots,” the Flyers’ head coach said. “We’ve got to get a middle shot.”
Vegas took advantage as Mark Stone scored the game-winner in OT for the Golden Knights. Travis Konecny had a turnover that led to Stone’s goal eight seconds later.
“He probably feels bad,” Tocchet said. “You can’t make those turnovers.”
The Flyers (16-9-4) dropped to 2-2-1 on their season-long six-game homestand.
“That’s a good team over there, we stuck with them and had chances,” Travis Sanheim said. “That’s just unfortunate in overtime.”
Tocchet’s club is 7-4-4 in games decided by one goal. It has gone to overtime 11 times.
“He’s doing a great job,” Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I knew he would. He did that in Vancouver. He’s building an identity I think here with the Flyers. He was part of an identity here years ago and I think he’d like to sort of reestablish that.”
Carter Hart made his return to Philadelphia with the Golden Knights (15-6-9), but the former Flyers goaltender was not in net. The 27-year-old backed up Akira Schmid. Hart is three games into his new opportunity with Vegas after being found not guilty in the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial.
The Flyers and Golden Knights meet again Jan. 19 in Las Vegas.
• Dan Vladar continued to answer the bell for the Flyers. You couldn’t blame him for the loss.
The 28-year-old denied 18 of 21 shots.
“I’m proud of the team here, I thought there was that hunger and the belief that we’ve been talking about the whole year,” Vladar said. “I felt it during the intermissions and stuff, guys were positive on the bench. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, but if we keep playing this way, I’m pretty sure we’re going to have more and more success.”
Vegas capitalized on the Flyers having too many men on the ice in the second period. Stone scored a power play goal to hand the Flyers a 2-1 deficit.
The Flyers fell behind 1-0 for the 20th time this season. In the first period, they were slow to get back after Christian Dvorak had an offensive-zone turnover, which eventually led to Zach Whitecloud’s transition goal.
Schmid stopped 17 of the Flyers’ 19 shots.
“It was a good test for us, they’re a really good hockey team over there,” Dvorak said. “I thought we competed well, it was a pretty even game for the most part. We were right there the whole game, it goes to OT, anything can happen.”
• Despite the loss, general manager Danny Briere had to feel good about his offseason additions after this one.
Dvorak had two assists, giving him 21 points through 29 games. The free-agent signing is on pace to shatter his career high of 38 points.
Zegras’ goal was his 11th in 29 games. Last season, the trade acquisition finished with 12 in 57 games for the Ducks.
Juulsen, a depth signing on the back end, tied the game at 2-2 in the second period. It was his first goal with the Flyers.
And the free-agent addition Vladar gave the Flyers another reliable outing.
• Sanheim made excellent read and pass to set up Zegras’ game-tying 1-1 goal in the first period.
“I didn’t feel like I had a lane to shoot it, so I bought a little bit of time,” Sanheim said. “He ends up sneaking in back post and great job finishing.”
• Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen joined healthy scratches Nicolas Deslauriers and Egor Zamula on Thursday morning for a competitive skate that featured contact.
York missed a third straight game with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old defenseman has been considered day to day.
“He’s going to have a really hard practice today, a lot of pushing and shoving on the ice and see how he reacts off it,” Tocchet said Thursday morning. “I think this is the day we’ll know how close he is to playing.”
Ristolainen is inching closer to his season debut, which could come before the Dec. 24-26 NHL holiday break.
“I’d be shocked if he hadn’t played before Christmas, to be honest with you,” Tocchet said.
The 31-year-old defenseman has been recovering from surgery in March on a second triceps tendon rupture.
• The Flyers wrap up their homestand Saturday when they welcome the Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).