The Philadelphia Flyers lost an odd game, 5-4, on Sunday night in Los Angeles. The crazy puck bounces and deflection goals caused changes to the large scoreboard overhanging the ice at Crypto.com Arena. The Flyers slowly watched a multi-goal lead evaporate into a regulation loss as the Kings netted two third-period scores to steal the game from their Eastern Conference counterpart. With the win, Los Angeles sweeps the two-game season series with Philly after a win 11 days ago at Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.
A Four-Goal Opening Frame
Kings winger Kevin Fiala opened the scoring for Los Angeles on a one-time shot that flew past the glove of Flyers starter Aleksei Kolosov and into the top corner of the net. Kolosov looked surprised by the shot and could not get his glove into position in time to stop the speeding black disc from meeting the netting for a 1-0 LA lead.
Philadelphia responded a few minutes later on an exceptional outlet pass from Cam York to Tyson Foerster that caught the Kings’ defense off guard, allowing the Flyers winger to speed into LA’s zone for a breakaway goal as he slid the puck between the pads of Kings goalie David Rittich to tie the game at one. Philly grabbed a 2-1 lead after a bad angle shot from Matvei Michkov was stopped by Rittich, but slammed home by a surging Scott Laughton. A Kings goal two minutes later from Adrian Kempe evened the score, 2-2, up heading into the first intermission break.
Michkov Dazzles in the Second Period
Flyers winger Matvei Michkov celebrated like a kid getting the brand-new toy he wanted for Christmas after his shot from behind the net snuck into the net for a 3-2 Flyers lead early in the second period. It is a play that Michkov has been making all season, and the rookie finally got a puck to deflect off the netminder and in the right direction to slip across the goal line. His first attempt at this style of play led to Laughton’s tally in the first period.
Two minutes later, Joel Farabee cashed in on a net-front rebound to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead. However, as the pendulum has swung this season, the Flyers served up an awful turnover at the offensive blueline, leading to a Kings goal. Travis Konecny attempted an ill-advised between-the-legs pass that was intercepted to a Kings breakaway goal from Warren Foegele.
Kolosov stopped the first attempt by Foegele, but the Kings forward collected the rebound and deposited the puck into the net to trim the lead, 4-3, entering the second intermission. After the game, John Tortorella spoke on LA’s third score. “(They’re) a really good team,” the head coach said, slightly shaking his head. “Third goal is just a kick in the teeth.”
Kopitar’s Two Goals Grounds Flyers
Los Angeles came out flying in the third period and finally leveled the game again with Anze Kopitar’s goal after heavy offensive pressure on Philly. Kolosov made the save on a point shot, but Kopitar was in the correct position to drive the rebound home from the side of the cage to tie the game at four.
That same “bad” man would break Flyers fans’ hearts minutes later on the man advantage. Los Angeles’ Captain, Kopitar, won a face-off and tipped a point shot past Kolosov for the game-winning goal, his team-leading 5th of the season for LA.
Flyers coach Tortorella said he pointing a finger at the young netminder in the loss. “No, I’m not blaming the goalie,” Tortorella responded. “I liked a lot of things about our game. To me, the biggest change of the game was being up 4-2, and we give ‘em one for free. It’s a tough thing for Koley (Kolosov) because he makes a great save on the breakaway, and it goes right back to him (Foegele) on the rebound. Some unluckiness for him, but I thought he played well.”
Philadelphia (16-17-4) travels down the California coast to San Jose for the final game in the 2024 calendar year tomorrow night. The Flyers (16-17-4) for a New Year’s Eve date with the San Jose Sharks (11-22-6) at SAP Center for an 8 PM EST face-off. In early November, Philly defeated the Sharks, 4-3, in a shootout on Broad Street.
Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
