Flyers' Matvei Michkov scores game-winning goal in overtime against Blackhawks

PHILADELPHIA — Heading into the third period the Flyers were singing the blues.

The Chicago Blackhawks were playing like they had a full tank of gas thanks to a 2-0 lead on the hometown team. But then the Flyers put the band back together and found their game scoring a pair of goals in less than three minutes in the third period to tie things up.

Getting the puck high in the offensive zone, Noah Cates got a chip pass from Bobby Brink before turning and scoring through a screen set by Cam York. The game was York’s first since October and the goal was Cates’ first of the season.

In overtime, the Flyers got a power play. Matvei Michkov took a pass from Travis Konecny and buried the puck at the right post to give the Flyers a comeback 3-2 win. The win was the first of Aleksei Kolosov’s NHL career.

Captain Couturier

Sean Couturier looked like he was on a mission from God in this one, when it came to going to the front of the net. Down 2-0 he had a chance to bury one right atop the blue paint but somehow couldn’t finish. Earlier in the period, while on a power play — and after Michkov made a nifty move to enter the Blackhawks zone and set him up — he was stopped by former Flyers goalie Petr Mrázek.

Couturier was doing a lot right offensively, except for scoring. And then he did.

The Flyers captain got them on the board as he planted himself in front of the net and redirected a pass from Rasmus Ristolainen. Couturier was all alone for his fourth goal of the season and his first since notching a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 26.

Shots

After a game against the Carolina Hurricanes in which they were dominated, especially in the third period when coach John Tortorella said his club was “spanked,” the Flyers were owning the ice Saturday.

Across the first two periods, the ice was tilted their way with a 21-14 shot attempts advantage in the first and a 19-13 in the second. But they couldn’t score.

Mrázek robbed Scott Laughton on a two-on-none with Konecny on a Flyers penalty kill in the first period. Konecny had a pull-and-shoot chance later in the opening frame that went wide before Laughton made a slick move but was stopped again.

The Flyers got their chances, putting 24 on net through the first period but couldn’t score. In the third, they scored twice on 12 shots and finished with 37 shots on goal.

York, Andrae return

The Flyers defense got a boost on Saturday as York returned after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury and Emil Andrae slotted back in after being out for a pair with a mid-body injury. York was back with his defensive partner Travis Sanheim, and Andrae skated alongside Ristolainen for most of the game.

Andrae brought his legs, especially in the first period. Michkov got a stretch pass and skated down the right side before going between his legs and getting a backhand attempt on net. The Flyers defenseman used his motor to join the play and tried to through the legs across the crease before losing his handle on the puck.

In the second period, Andrae put a shot on goal from the point with 2:05 left that Mrázek couldn’t control. Bobby Brink scooped it up and fed Tyson Foerster in the left face-off circle for a one-timer on an empty net — except veteran defenseman Alec Martinez got his stick in the way to block the sure-fire goal. Through two periods, Andrae had three shot attempts and two shots on goal.

Skating in his first game in a month, York was on the ice for all four regulation goals, unfortunately, two of those were for the Blackhawks.

On the first goal, the Flyers had a four-on-two but were unable to convert after Konecny’s pass hit the skates of Owen Tippett. Chicago went the other way and Pat Maroon’s pass went through two Flyers — Saheim and Couturier — right to Lukas Reichel for the slam-dunk goal. In the defensive zone, it was an eerily similar play to the Jack Roslovic goal in Wednesday night’s loss to the Hurricanes.

On the second goal, Reichel got past the defense again on a chip pass from Maroon. He went in one-on-one with Kolosov and couldn’t score but the Blackhawks kept it going in the Flyers’ end. Maroon got the puck back and drew three Flyers to him — York, Sanheim, and Couturier — and still scored on a backhander.

Breakaways

Aleksei Kolosov made 19 saves on 21 shots. ... Egor Zamula and Erik Johnson were a healthy scratch.

Up next

The Flyers host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday (7 p.m. ET, NBCSP).