The Flyers allowed the Mammoth to score two quick goals in the second period, and it was Clayton Keller’s game-tying and overtime score that sealed their 5-4 loss.
SALT LAKE CITY ― The Flyers were in control until they weren’t.
After ending a six-game losing streak on Monday, and snapping the Vegas Golden Knights’ seven-game winning streak in the process, they lost to the Utah Mammoth 5-4 in overtime. They did extend their point streak to two games.
Clayton Keller scored in overtime from the slot after he tied the game with 35 seconds left in regulation. His tying goal came after the Utah captain skated down the left wing and around defenseman Travis Sanheim, cut across the crease, and scored on a backhand over Sam Ersson.
The Flyers had chances to extend their lead several times, with Owen Tippett ringing one off the post after a sick dangle with 5 minutes, 55 seconds left, and Garnet Hathaway heading to an open net, but he didn’t pull the trigger and had his pocket picked.
Taking the home crowd out of a road game is key, and the Flyers did that 30 seconds into the game.
Defenseman Cam York slammed home the rebound on a turnaround shot by Sanheim. The goal came off sustained pressure by the defensive pair with the line of Christian Dvorak, Travis Konecny, and Trevor Zegras, with the latter two using the boards before Konecny fed Sanheim.
The goal is York’s fourth of the season, tying his total from last year across 66 games.
Just over four minutes later, it was 2-0 Flyers for the first time since Jan. 4 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Flyers broke out of their own end with Noah Juulsen sending an outlet pass up in the air to Konecny at center ice.
Konecny knocked the puck down and led Dvorak with the pass as he took off. The center skated between the defense, cut across the crease, and put the puck around the right pad of Karel Vejmelka.
The Flyers then took a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal 58 seconds into the second period. After a clean zone entry, the unit of Zegras, Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink were able to get to work.
Zegras and Drysdale played catch above the circles before Zegras put a shot on goal from inside the blue line. Brink had been in the bumper but then rotated into the left circle before dropping down and burying the rebound on Zegras’ shot.
The goal is Brink’s 12th of the season, tying his career high set last season.
Utah started to pick up its game after a hard and borderline high hit by Liam O’Brien on Tippett in the neutral zone. Originally, the referees called a major penalty and looked at it again, but under review, decided it did not warrant a call. Tippett did leave the game but returned to the bench later in the second period.
They scored two quick goals 36 seconds apart, the first by JJ Peterka and the second by Lawson Crouse.
On the goal by Peterka, there was a scramble at the side of the net, and he jammed in the loose puck. The Crouse goal came after Sean Durzi’s shot went off the stick of Brink, and Emil Andrae couldn’t handle the bobbling puck. Crouse knocked it away from the Flyers defenseman, and Nick Schmaltz fed Crouse for the quick snapshot.
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Flyers coach Rick Tocchet called a timeout to settle down his club, and it worked.
The Orange and Black had some chances, and then Dvorak added his second of the night with a power-play goal. He got the puck in the neutral zone, gained the zone, and fired a wrister from the right circle. Vejmelka couldn’t control the rebound, and Dvorak knocked the puck in.
With his second multi-goal game of the season, he now has 12 goals, tying his total last season with the Montreal Canadiens.
Utah cut it to a one-goal game with 7:13 left when Dylan Guenther scored on the power play from the left circle. The Mammoth had the man advantage after Juulsen dropped the gloves with Jack McBain and got an extra two minutes for roughing.
Making the start for the second straight game — the first times since Dec. 18-20 — Ersson stopped 22 of 27 shots. He stoned Nick DeSimone in the first period as the defenseman cut across the crease and made several saves through traffic.
Breakaways
Forward Carl Grundström was a healthy scratch for the first time since entering the lineup on Dec. 9. In that 21-game span, he had seven goals and nine points. … Defenseman Hunter McDonald and forward Nic Deslauriers were also healthy scratches.
Up next
The Flyers head to Denver to face the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche — they have five losses in regulation on the season — on Friday (9 p.m., NBCSP).
Source: Utah News