Flyers strike twice on power play but fall to Devils in overtime

No, the Flyers did not get their first comeback win, but it certainly was not for lack of trying.

Facing a New Jersey Devils team that has struggled to meet their own expectations, the Flyers outworked their tri-state neighbors after killing off a five-minute major to Garnet Hathaway — an event that seemed to spark the home team.

Down 2-0 early to the Devils — and with Hathaway ejected — the Orange and Black battled back and eventually tied things up at three in the last five minutes of the game, before losing 4-3 in overtime. Luke Hughes needed less than 30 seconds of the extra frame to beat Carter Hart with a wrist shot and win the game for the Devils.

Morgan Frost scored in the second period, and Sean Walker and Tyson Foerster each scored late in the third to force overtime as the team clawed from two goals down twice.

“When we killed the five-minute penalty, which never should have been a five-minute penalty, which never should have been a penalty, we talked about that’s the hump we have to get over. That hopefully, we just keep on finding our way,” coach John Tortorella said.

“You could sense that we could at least have an opportunity to get back in the game. I thought we were generating offense — couldn’t finish on a number of plays — but I think [associate coach] Brad Shaw said it. He says, ‘Kill it off, we’re going to win the game.’ Didn’t win the game, but we battled hard to get back in.”

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Momentum started to shift for the Flyers in the second period. According to Natural Stat Trick, at five-on-five, the Flyers were generating more shot attempts than the Devils, with a Corsi For percentage of 64.1%. They tilted the ice at 57.69% in the third; in the first period, at all strengths, the Flyers were at just 42.11%

Those are not bad numbers, considering just 10 Flyers forwards hit the ice for the majority of the game.

“We battled. I thought [we] battled to the end and had a really good second period, I thought, of quick up in pucks, pressuring them, had a couple of good chances in the third and we tied up,” Scott Laughton said. “That’s kind of a group we have, not giving up there.”

Along with Hathaway’s ejection, Joel Farabee played just 56 seconds — all in the first period. Farabee was on the ice for the first goal by the Devils, a shot from the high slot by Alexander Holtz that beat Hart glove side 3 minutes and 10 seconds into the game. Farabee wasn’t able to keep the puck in along the boards, and the Devils broke out three-on-two before Michael McLeod found the trailing Holtz.

Was it him getting beat on the boards? Was it his positioning being off? Was it not skating hard the entire time on the backcheck? Tortorella wouldn’t reveal what exactly caused Farabee’s limited ice time, but did say it was “Because he didn’t listen.” Farabee was not made available to the media after the game.

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Tyler Toffoli, who set up Jack Hughes to make it 2-0 in the first, scored what looked like an insurance goal on a Devils power play less than five minutes into the third. But the Flyers battled back and stayed in the game, thanks in large part, once again, to Hart.

“Hartsy held us in the for sure,” Foerster said. “He made a couple of nasty saves and we never gave up and battled back and got the point, and that was big.”

Although the Flyers put 48 shots on Akira Schmid, it was Hart who stood on his head. The Flyers goalie made 31 saves, but none more spectacular than a diving blocker save on a Holtz rebound attempt. With the Flyers shorthanded, and in a one-goal game, the Alberta native stopped a quick shot by Toffoli alone in front, before diving to his right and robbing Holtz of a sure thing.

Following the Save of the Game — and a Save of the Year contender for sure — Walker cut it to 3-2 on a point shot with five minutes to go in regulation and Foerster tied it up with under a minute to go.

Tortorella was incensed and referee Francis Charron got an earful from the Flyers bench boss. The reason? Hathaway was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding after a hard hit on Devils defenseman Luke Hughes.

The penalty was called with 3:45 remaining in the opening frame on what many expected to be an icing after a pass by Nic Deslauriers from the Flyers’ zone did not connect with Ryan Poehling near the red line.

Hathaway was chasing the puck down, splitting the Devils’ defense of Hughes and his partner Jonas Siegenthaler. It appears that Hughes pulled up ever so slightly — probably because he was expecting the icing call and whistle.

“Yeah, you can’t lay up, it’s nearly impossible,” Laughton said about Hathaway’s check. “And also, I think the whistle went after the hit; it was probably a second after the hit. It’s in the game. You know Hathaway’s coming at you and you got to be aware and protect yourself. Obviously, we don’t agree with the call, but they made it and thought we did a good job on the penalty kill.”

According to the NHL rulebook, Section 6, Rule 41.1:

“A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the referee.”

Hughes doesn’t really hit the boards — he does falls down hard onto the ice — and it appeared that Tortorella was making that case when expressing his disgust with the call.

The rule further states:

“Any unnecessary contact with a player playing the puck on an obvious ‘icing’ or ‘off-side’ play which results in that player hitting or impacting the boards is ‘boarding’ and must be penalized as such.”

The referees spoke to Tortorella and Laughton, but are not made available to the media postgame.

“I think linesman’s in a tough spot there, but I think you got to blow it early or don’t blow it at all,” Laughton said. “... A five-minute boarding call but he doesn’t hit the boards really? So, it’s tough.”

Added Frost: “He’s a really important player for us and a great penalty killer, great energy guy, and a great leader, great guy on the bench. So you obviously don’t want to lose him during the game. I don’t know if that was really a major penalty, but you know, it is what it is, and, obviously, we missed some of the rest of the game.”

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There was a shimmer of hope that the power play may be righting itself on Thursday — thanks to a new group of five.

With Sean Couturier back in front of the net like the old days, Foerster shifted to the left circle, Travis Konecny went to the right circle, and Frost slotted into the bumper. Defenseman Cam York was back on the power play at the point and looked sharp.

The Flyers didn’t get much in terms of shots in their first man advantage — it lasted just 63 seconds until Frost was called for tripping to end things — but they cashed in during their second opportunity. Frost scored his first goal since Nov. 11 after a York point shot was stopped, and Konecny chipped the loose puck over to Frost for the open-net goal.

“We had a really good shot mentality,” York said. “Everybody was on the same page, I think that was the biggest thing. Everyone knew that as soon as guys got it they were going to shoot it and guys were cashing in.”

The power play had a chance to even things up late in the third, including a two-man advantage, but they could not get one past until Foerster tipped in a point shot by Laughton with 50.9 seconds on the clock. Hart was on the bench to give the Flyers an extra attacker at 6-on-4.

Egor Zamula returned to the lineup after sitting for two straight games.

The Flyers head to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+).