Flyers lose two in a row for first time since holiday break after 4-3 overtime loss to Kings

For the first time since Dec. 22-23, the Flyers have lost two games in a row, following up Sunday’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

The Flyers played with the lead three times and never trailed through three periods. The first time they fell behind was the deciding goal in overtime from Kings forward Kevin Fiala. Fiala’s game-winner came directly after the Flyers had two golden chances with Scott Laughton hitting the post and Travis Sanheim having a point-blank opportunity stopped by Kings goalie Pheonix Copley.

“The first 10 minutes of the game, I thought we were going to lose 10 nothing,” coach John Tortorella said. “They just looked so much faster than we were. ... We just stayed with our game. And I thought we played a good game. I thought we worked our [butts] off against a really good team. I thought we were going to score there at the end, he makes a great save and they go down and score. No [complaints] about our game for me.”

After Owen Tippett used his size and speed to generate a two-on-one, James van Riemsdyk scored to give the Flyers the lead just 5:50 into the game. They played with the lead for almost four minutes before two minutes of scoring reset the game.

» READ MORE: Flyers’ Scott Laughton and Tony DeAngelo honored at annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet

The Flyers first penalty of the game resulted in an Anže Kopitar power-play goal scored four seconds after the faceoff. A minute later, Wade Allison restored the Flyers’ lead when he finished on his own rebound of his shot off the rush. A minute after that, Kopitar tied it back up after Adrian Kempe’s wraparound pass found him in the slot with goalie Carter Hart overcommitted to the opposite side of the net.

Rasmus Ristolainen added another goal at 10:37 in the second period to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead, but the Kings equalized again with a Samuel Fagemo goal late in the middle frame. A scoreless third period sent it into overtime for the first time since Dec. 29 against San Jose.

Tortorella has said his lines don’t have a pecking order. Morgan Frost’s line with van Riemsdyk and Tippett has started many games and played against opposing top lines. Noah Cates’ line with Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny also has played a first-line role — and it features the team’s top scorer in Konecny (49 points). Tuesday, they both generated momentum and opportunities.

While Scott Laughton’s line with Allison and Kevin Hayes hasn’t played a first-line role, it features veteran second-line center Hayes. Since it typically goes against other third lines, Hayes has been able to take advantage and is scoring at a career-best rate (.92 points per game). Against the Kings, all of the players on the third line created as much offense as the other top lines. Between the three of them, they compiled eight shots on goal, one goal (Allison), and one assist (Hayes).

However, Allison’s momentum was killed by all the penalties because he doesn’t play on either special teams unit. Meanwhile, Laughton expended energy on both, and Hayes only went out for the power plays.

The Flyers started the second period with 14 seconds remaining on their first-period power play. It expired without event, and, a minute later, the momentum flipped the other way.

Van Riemsdyk was called for tripping 1:14 into the second, and the Flyers faced two shorthanded minutes. In a much better performance than their first penalty kill, they kept the Kings from placing a single shot on goal. Six seconds after they killed it, Nicolas Deslauriers went to the box. This time, the Flyers not only killed the power play but dominated and created momentum from it.

The Flyers killed one more power play and had a power play of their own killed in the second. In all, they spent 2 minutes, 14 seconds on the power play in the second and six minutes on the penalty kill. Although they did well on the penalty kills, it meant they spent a lot of time shorthanded and using extra energy right before heading on the road amid a tough schedule. The ice time weighed heavily on their special teams players’ shoulders.

How did the second period end? With two more penalties, one to Konecny and one to Mikey Anderson for their end-of-periodscuffle.

“Whether we’re playing all the games that we have played or not, it’s just too many penalties,” Tortorella said.

Ristolainen had two shots Tuesday, but one was good for a goal. As Frost made his way across the offensive zone to where Ristolainen waited by the blue line, Ristolainen drifted toward the goal. Frost put the puck on his stick, albeit with a deflection, and Ristolainen made no mistake and backhanded it in.

In addition to adding a goal, the Flyers’ defense also assisted on the first two goals with Ivan Provorov picking up two assists. They were jumping in on offense. Cam York added two shots on goal, and Tony DeAngelo had three.

» READ MORE: ‘Wherever I see an opportunity, I’m going to take it:’ Flyers defenseman Cam York’s offensive mindset

But while the defense helped make the Flyers’ offense more dynamic, they also made things harder in their own end. When Kempe skated behind the net and Hart committed too hard, Sanheim was trailing him and no one else was around to help out. On the third goal, DeAngelo turned the puck over, and Frost failed to track Fagemo, who beat Hart with an uncontested shot from the center of ice.

“It’s just trying to find a fine line between [offense and defense],” DeAngelo said. “I thought we didn’t play a bad game again. Just a couple of things went the wrong way.”

Allison added that the whole team tightened up its defense and also said there were just a few slips, but they decided the game.

The Flyers head to Minnesota for their first game against the Wild at 8 p.m. Thursday.