Philadelphia’s late comeback added another loss to Detroit’s woes. The Flyers third period game leveler with a minute left allowed them a chance to win it in overtime beating the Red Wings 4-3 at Wells Fargo Arena Wednesday night. Detroit picked up a point in the loss but carried a three game losing streak.
Detroit’s sudden two game skid at home led them away briefly in hopes of recovering quickly. They took on the Flyers who they had some success against last season. While they sit in second place in the Atlantic Division, the up and down progress to their scoring had to be leveled quickly before they increased to their longest losing streak of the season. Vanek remained week to week with a lower body injury sustained three games ago. His push to be the best led the Red Wings to rely on him. They’d have to adjust severely to get back to being at their best.
The game was slow for both teams as they spent plenty of time with possession but little on shots to the net. Both Neuvirth in net for Philadelphia and Mrazek for the Red Wings kept things dead locked without a goal for half the period. Things got interesting minutes later with Detroit showing tremendous activity within their young group of players. Dylan Larkin took a different approach to his offensive movements on ice setting up for a long drive at Neuvirth. The 20-year-old scored his fourth of the season on a centering drive that redirected off of Jakub Voracek to fly by the glove side of the net.
It quickly became 2-0 16 seconds later on a bad faceoff loss for the Flyers. Their attempts to send the puck in the Detroit zone went straight to the Red Wings who went coast to coast with the puck. It was Andreas Anthanasiou with possession who slowly skated forward to Neuvirth scoring his third of the year over the shoulder of the goaltender. The major statement made by Detroit allowed them to not only outshot the Flyers 9-8 but also carry good improvement going into the second period.
It was a turnaround for them as the Flyers got their game going with a push back on the Red Wings. The exploded at times with a rush of offense that allowed them a series of shots to the net of Mrazek. The Czech made phenomenal stops for his team while the defense blocked shots but couldn’t clear away the surge.
The Flyers continued their onslaught where they nearly double the shots on net of their opponents. After nearly 14 shots on goal, Philadelphia managed to score one on Brayden Schenn’s cross pass to Chris VandeVelde notching his first of the season that cut Detroit’s lead in half. Six minutes remained in the period but it continued to see the Flyers hunt down the tying goal. Mrazek and Detroit did everything to prevent that; breathing a sigh of relief when the period came to an end.
When the third period began, the Flyers picked up quickly where they left off; dominating on their ice. Nearing the fourth minute, Flyers rookie Roman Lyubimov scored his first career NHL goal tying the game at two all with plenty of time for more. Detroit knew that their push for the lead had to stop and take steps to regain control of play. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg led the way with his veteran line pulling things off. Justin Abdelkader helped set up Tomas Tatar and the team leader with a scoring chance that gave the captain his first of the year and the lead back for Detroit.
Things looked good for the Red Wings to walk out of the arena with a much needed road win. The Flyers were clearly desperate to make a statement and did so with 1:04 left on the clock. A scramble in front of the Detroit net allowed them to slap away at the puck getting into the net during the scuffle. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill challenged the call due to goaltender interference. After review from NHL officials, the goal stood in favor of Philadelphia giving Mark Streit his third of the year. The final minute of the period wasn’t enough to make a major difference for both teams leading the game into overtime where the Red Wings would see their second 3 on 3 matchup this season.
The Red Wings had an opportunity to put the game away in the opening minutes with Larkin setting up Darren Helm with a point blank shot. Unfortunately, the Detroit veteran held on to the puck too long ending in the hands of the Flyers. Philadelphia quickly put together a solid 2 on 1 going into the Detroit zone where Voracek got a pass from captain Claude Giroux before sniping the puck into the net that ended the game.
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