April 24, 2025
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Flames 5, Flyers 4 (OT): Penalty kill struggles lead to Flyers’ fourth straight loss

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The good news is that the Flyers finally scored some goals! The bad news is that the other team scored more of them.

Goals from Brandon Manning, Sean Couturier, Ivan Provorov, and Nolan Patrick weren’t enough for the Flyers, who gave up a power-play hat trick to Sean Monahan in the second period before falling in overtime to the Calgary Flames by a score of 5-4. The loss was the Flyers’ fourth straight, though they picked up one point for the second straight outing.

Come with us as we re-live the, uh, magic of a matinee disappointment in real-time below. Enjoy.

***

12:56 p.m.: So we’ve got Jori Lehtera in the lineup in place of Jordan Weal, who was a late scratch in this one due to an injury that he likely suffered on an (uncalled) Dustin Byfuglien elbow on Thursday night. Lehtera’s presence will break up the fourth line, as Michael Raffl is the guy who will move up in the lineup to the second line. Yes, we’re at the point where “moving up a player with 0 points in 19 games to your second line” is probably the best course of action. What a stupid season it’s been.

1:01 p.m.: Here is your Club Playing Roster. Weise/Patrick/Simmonds, Manning/Ghost your starters.

1:09 p.m.: Do you ever miss Jaromir Jagr? I miss Jaromir Jagr often. I don’t even know if I want him on this team, I just miss him.

1:09 p.m.: Broadcast Reference To Johnny Gaudreau Being From South Jersey Counter is at 1. Also, we’re underway.

1:12 p.m.: Brandon Manning from WAY downtown! 1-0 Flyers.

1:14 p.m.: When you haven’t really gotten lucky in about two weeks’ worth of games, getting lucky feels really f*cking good. Long shot from Manning, with the assistance of a screen from Raffl, hits the post, bounces off of Smith, and goes in. Take ‘em how you get ‘em.

1:17 p.m.: Early whistle from the refs stops a dangerous chance from Konecny, who poked the puck loose from the glove of Smith before he could corral it.

1:23 p.m.: Broadcast Reference To Johnny Gaudreau Being From South Jersey Counter is at 2.

1:24 p.m.: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand the aforementioned Gaudreau turns a breakaway into a Flames goal. Dangerous chance in front is quickly turned into a stretch pass by Ferland in the neutral zone to Gaudreau, who caught Hagg flat-footed and beat Elliott on a wrister. 1-1.

(Also, Broadcast Reference To Johnny Gaudreau Being From South Jersey Counter is at 3.)

1:25 p.m.: Raffl gets a breakaway opportunity of his own immediately off the ensuing center-ice faceoff. Raff’s taking advantage of the promotion he’s been given so far.

1:30 p.m.: Pace has definitely picked up since the first commercial break. Both teams getting some chances in transition in the past couple of minutes. Not sure that’s a game the Flyers want to get in to against a team like this Calgary team, but fun to watch in the meantime.

1:34 p.m.: Kris Versteeg, who has never before played for the Flyers, gets an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for randomly hitting Taylor Leier after the whistle had blown, and the Flyers will get the first power play of the game.

1:35 p.m.: Bam. Couturier. 2-1.

1:36 p.m.: The Flames’ penalty kill was 5 out of 13 in its past four games. Yikes. Not great work by those penalty killers to fail to clear out the rebound. That said, woof, the rebound itself from Smith was bad, and that’s great work by Couturier to get there first.

1:43 p.m.: And another one! Provorov makes it 3-1 as a Flyers defenseman scores from Joel Embiid Range for the second time in this period.

1:44 p.m.: Low-key nice play by Lehtera to corral the puck off that Laughton faceoff win and get it to Provorov, but even better work by Provorov to fire it right as two guys get in Smith’s line of sight, and better still by Provorov to fit that puck under the crossbar. Some luck involved here, but again, we’re owed a few of these.

1:46 p.m.: A minor scrum along the boards sends Taylor Leier and Matt Stajan to the penalty box and before I can even finish typing this Jakub Voracek will head to the box for an absolutely atrocious hooking call and before I can even finish typing that Sean Couturier gets a short-handed breakaway that Smith shuts down. Lots happening right now! Flyers still on the 3-on-4.

1:48 p.m.: Mostly a strong effort by the Flyers’ penalty killers in a tough situation there, and Elliott moves across to shut down a good chance in its closing seconds. We’ll head to the locker room up 3-1 after 20.

2:08 p.m.: Second period is underway now.

2:10 p.m.: Gaudreau (does anyone know where he’s from?) boots a potential second breakaway of the game and Elliott shoves the loose puck out of danger. Flyers caught a bit of a break there.

2:14 p.m.: T.J. Brodie goes off for slashing and the Flyers will get another crack at this brutally bad power play.

2:17 p.m.: Aaaaand the Flyers’ best chance on the power play is whistled down as Weise high-sticks Matt Stajan. Weise and Konecny had what was essentially a 2-on-0 in front before the late whistle.

2:18 p.m.: Crap. Outstanding chance in front for the Flyers doesn’t go, as Provorov puts a pass just a little bit in front of Patrick and he can’t get a good shot off on it. Shortly afterwards, the Flames (officially on the power play at that point) get one back, as Sean Monahan deflects a long shot from Versteeg that dribbles through Elliott’s legs. 3-2.

2:24 p.m.: And now Calgary will have a chance to tie this one, as Manning is called for a slash on Stajan. Flyers have, as a whole, played pretty well this period. It’d be rough to see them cough up a two-goal lead in the process.

2:26 p.m.: I mean, duh. 3-3. Hectic sequence of chances sees Gaudreau fire a puck in on Elliott, who lets the rebound out into the slot. Monahan beats everyone to it and has his second goal of the period.

2:29 p.m.: …the whistle blows, Shayne Gostisbehere is shown going to the penalty box and slamming his stick in anger, and we go to commercial. Cool? More details forthcoming, one would think. Anywho, the Flames have two PP goals in this period, so maybe, like, stop it?

2:31 p.m.: It appears Ghost (who, not long before, took a shot off of his hand and appeared to be in pain) shouted something at the ref and was immediately sent to the penalty box. No idea what that’s all about. Wonder if we’ll find out more later.

2:34 p.m.: Not a bad PK, given the struggles it’s had so far this period. One nice stop by Elliott but otherwise the danger is kept to a minimum.

2:35 p.m.: GOALAN PATRICK IT’S 4-3 THE CHICKEN DANCE SONG IS PLAYING

2:36 p.m.: Not content with ever having a safe lead, the Flyers will be back on the penalty kill as Ghost will be heading right back to the penalty box for an elbowing penalty.

2:37 pm.: Back to the good stuff … some pressure from the top line (with Patrick in Couturier’s place) sees a rebound spit out to the rookie, who makes no mistake and gets his first goal in front of the home crowd. Cool moment.

2:38 p.m.: Welp. Everything is bad again. Taylor Leier crumples to the ice on a blocked shot that appears to have hit him in, uh, well … ouch … and play keeps going, and Monahan now has a hat trick (all on the power play) following a snipe in the glove-side corner. We’re tied at 4. Leier’s heading off the ice, too.

2:46 p.m.: An eventful second period comes to an end tied 4-4. The book coming into this one was that the Flyers should be able to take advantage of a bad Calgary penalty kill, but it’s the Flames who have got the best of the man-advantage today. Discipline will be important in the third.

2:54 p.m.: Flyers did some good things that period at evens, which makes the whole “giving up three goals on the power play” thing that much more of a buzzkill.

3:04 p.m.: Underway in the third now.

3:10 p.m.: Flyers have had most of the pressure in this period so far. Nice job by Hagg to keep control of the puck in on that last shift, as that bought the Flyers probably an extra 30 seconds of cycle time.

3:12 p.m.: First real good shift of the period there for Calgary doesn’t result in a goal. Gotta say, the top line hasn’t been its usual absurd self today. First time in a while it’s felt like they’ve spent more time defending than attacking, even though it (well, 2⁄3 of it) was on the ice for Patrick’s goal in the second.

3:14 p.m.: Speaking of, Patrick with a good chance at his second goal of the game there, but Smith is home in front and the puck goes off his shoulder and out of play. 12 and change left in regulation.

3:18 p.m.: Micheal Ferland, who for some reason has the e in front of the a in his first name, has been outstanding today for Calgary. That whole line has (though, not overly difficult to play well with Monahan and Baudreau), and they create a great chance off the rush to nearly take the lead. Elliott stops the initial pass and the Flyers are there to push the loose puck into his pads.

3:20 p.m.: And now Sam Bennett rings one off the right post, the second time this period the Flames have done that. Hug your local goalpost, folks.

3:30 p.m.: First real interesting shift in a while for the Flyers there as Smith shuts down a good chance from Giroux. Third period has been pretty quiet since the halfway-ish mark.

3:31 p.m.: And there’s a wild shift. Filppula carries the puck in and around the net, he and Konecny both pass up a quality chance to pass the puck, then Calgary goes down-ice and gets a chance of its own that doesn’t go.

3:32 p.m.: And on the next shift — during which the fourth line had a nice extended stretch of offensive zone time — Matt Stagan hauls down Laughton behind the net, and the Flyers will get a power play with 2:01 left in the tied game. This should be one point in the bank. Let’s get two instead? It’s the worst penalty kill in the NHL, guys. You can do this.

3:36 p.m.: First line takes about 30 seconds to get up, but Simmonds and Voracek both just miss out on the puck on rebound chances. The second unit comes out, and Weise gets a cross-ice pass over to Konecny that he just can’t control. Flyers don’t win the ensuing faceoff with 30 seconds left and we head to overtime at 4-4.;

3:39 p.m.: 3-on-3 is underway. Let’s score a dang goal. Won’t be easy against this Calgary team’s speed and skill, but let’s score a dang goal.

3:41 p.m.: Nope. Giroux can’t handle a long pass from Ghost in the neutral zone, Backlund gets past Voracek to create a 2-on-1, and Frolik buries a one-timer to end things. 5-4 is your final and the Flyers have lost four in a row. Let’s all do better on Tuesday against Vancouver. Go Flyers.

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