The Flyers eight-game winning streak could not be broken for a ninth time. Philadelphia saw challenges from the Detroit Red Wings at the tail end of the game but an overtime winner from Brayden Schenn secured another win giving the Flyers a 1-0 win at the Joe Louis Arena Sunday. The capture of the second point helped keep the Flyers on high extending their streak further on the road.
A breakdown by the Red Wings ended their two-game winning streak in a game against the Blue Jackets they let get away. With the homestand in progress, a hope of success returned back for Detroit in hopes to getting back on track. Jimmy Howard made an appearance during Friday’s match but earned his first start since a lower-body injury kept him out since Nov. 25. His seven saves against Columbus showed promising results that he could handle the Flyers standing between the pipes.
Philadelphia stood currently with an eight-game winning streak after defeating the Dallas Stars 4-2. The tremendous surge on the road had them vying to keep the streak alive and pull off a second defeat of the Red Wings.
They were awarded a power play early in the period with Howard and the Red Wings playing defense to prevent an early lead to their opponents. The penalty kill got Detroit into play where they took their scoring chances on Steve Mason. No one took an edge on the score but the late part of the period belonged to the Flyers as they conducted time with the puck launching another five shots in the Detroit end before the horn. Philadelphia led 10-5 on Detroit while playing quite even on the faceoff dot.
The Flyers pushed once more to start the second with Detroit coming close on few occasions. Detroit’s top three lines made their offense known to the Flyers but couldn’t break open on the scoreboard. Half the period went into the books with the Red Wings scoring them another chance on the power play.
It didn’t go as planned and only got worse as the period elapsed. The Flyers remained on a focused strategy to stay out in front of the Red Wings despite things being scoreless. They got an important power play in the last two minutes but Detroit did a good job taking away time on the advantage. 40 minutes of play concluded with the game still tied with Philadelphia staying on top of Detroit.
The Red Wings came out blasting in the Flyers end to start the third. They nearly had a big chance on net with the play going on after the net became dislodged. Officials checked the video and determined that there was no goal on the play. Detroit picked up another man advantage only to watch it go unanswered. Another opportunity arrived but their attempts to gain the rebounds proved difficult leaving them to fight back for possession.
Despite the fifth unconverted power play, the Red Wings got energized after a hit to Steve Ott was answered by his young teammate. Xavier Oulett went after Michael Raffl taking down the Flyers forward that sent the crowd into cheers. Oulett was giving an instigator penalty that led to Philadelphia going on the power play.
Special teams continued to be the key to the stalemate on ice while the clock ticked away leaving very little time to make big moves. The Red Wings and Flyers pushed their offense to the limits but both Howard and Mason were flawless ending regulation with no score.
Overtime was the next step and for Howard, his actions were once again big moments on the count of the Detroit defense. The Red Wings netminder made some big stops shutting down the rebound and second chances. Philadelphia took more shots through two minutes wanting the second point secured. Detroit didn’t allow them such an easy pass with Howard shutting down a 3 on 1 attempt.
A bad moment came in the final two minutes came with a turnover in the neutral zone. The Flyers rushed in with a 3 on 2 that Schenn scored on a backhander for his second straight game winner. It was Schenn’s eighth of the season and the one that put a good start on the road trip. While the Flyers head west to take on the Avalanche, Detroit would hope to find a way out of competing in overtime situations when they host the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday.
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