Flyers squander another late lead but salvage a point in 4-3 OT loss to the Bruins

BOSTON ― Hello overtime, old friend. The Flyers have come to talk with you again.

The Flyers earned a point on Saturday in the 4-3 loss but it could have been two as they led 2-0 and 3-1. Like the game against the Florida Panthers, they played well — and primarily outplayed their opponent — before faltering.

Part of it was the Boston Bruins turned it up. The other part was the referees.

“Yeah, let me start,” coach John Tortorella said before a question could be asked postgame. “One thing I teach my team to do is not dive. Maybe I should start teaching them that, the way this has gone here, the way this [stuff] goes on, maybe I should start teaching them how to dive.”

For the second straight game, the officiating was questionable — at best.

After getting called for seven penalties in the 7-5 loss on Thursday, which gave the Panthers five power plays, the Flyers were tagged for another eight penalties on Saturday. Florida connected on four of their power plays and Boston scored on one of their six. As for the Flyers, they had four power-play opportunities against the Panthers and just two in the loss to the Bruins.

“It’s one of the things we talk about most as a team. We’ve got to play an honest game,” Tortorella said. “There’s no cheating. There’s no embarrassing referees. You don’t embarrass the referees. The [stuff] that went on here tonight is just ridiculous. I’m proud of the way our team played. Did we [throw] another one away, yeah, but other people had a little bit to do with that also.”

Tortorella did not speak to the media following the Flyers loss on Thursday, saying on Friday as his team practiced below, “I just didn’t think it’d be productive.” Although he discussed the penalty Joel Farabee took late in regulation that led to the game-winner by Sam Reinhart, saying he needed to be aware of the situational play.

What was not brought up was the overall refereeing, notably the interference call on Scott Laughton that led to the Carter Verhaeghe power-play goal to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead. On replay, it appeared that Laughton and Tkachuk didn’t see each other when their skates connected, which sent both players flying.

There were more questionable calls Saturday in the first 60 minutes before David Pastrňák held off Owen Tippett and fed Pavel Zacha for the overtime winner.

In the third period, the Flyers were called for three penalties — interference on Travis Konecny, and tripping calls on Garnet Hathaway and Sean Couturier — with a pair of even-strength goals by the Bruins sandwiched between. The call on Hathaway was especially a head-scratcher as it looked like he just tapped the pants of Mason Lohrei before the Bruins blueliner went down.

The Flyers were also not getting calls their way as Charlie McAvoy ran amok, including going after Matvei Michkov when he appeared to think the Flyers forward embellished a trip in the neutral zone.

“Didn’t seem like we could get a call,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “We’re shorthanded, guys trying to make clears and we got sticks in our hands, and we’re not getting the calls. We’ve got to battle through that but we shot ourselves in the foot as well [with] some unnecessary penalties. Yeah, it’s unfortunate because I thought we deserved the two points.”

The Bruins didn’t score on any of their third-period power plays but did have one tally in the second when Trent Frederic buried his second attempt after Sanehim blocked his first. After Cam York gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead later in the frame thanks to sustained pressure, things started to get energized on both ends.

Frederic scored again just over 5 minutes into the third period. Brad Marchand took a long indirect pass from Justin Brazeau and cut around Tyson Foerster and Sanheim as they tried to get back to tie the game on a breakaway with just 5 minutes and 22 seconds remaining. The penalties in the third didn’t hurt the Flyers on the board, but, as York said, “It kind of kills the momentum.”

“I think we got to learn from our mistakes,” Couturier said. “This is two games where we take stupid penalties [and] give the other team a chance to come back and we did it again today. We’re going to have to learn from our mistakes. But, yeah, overall the game was a good game for us [at] five-on-five. We came out with a big point.”

The loss marked the second straight game the Flyers squandered a third-period lead. Nine of the Flyers’ last 14 games have now gone to overtime.

» READ MORE: The Flyers tried to trade Travis Sanheim in 2023. Now, he’s a bona fide No. 1 defenseman and poised to make Team Canada.

When the first-period horn sounded Michkov led the Bruins, 2-0. That’s not a typo.

The first came on the power play off a broken play. After Couturier won an offensive-zone faceoff, the Flyers maintained possession in the Bruins’ zone. From the left corner, Konecny fed Emil Andrae at the point and the feisty defenseman — he later went at it with McAvoy in the second period — fired off a one-timer.

Andrae’s shot was blocked by Elias Lindholm, and the puck laid in the slot before Couturier poked it over to Michkov in the right faceoff circle. Never one to shy away from putting a shot on goal, the rookie fired a one-timer from one knee past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

“He’s a goal scorer,” Couturier said. “He knows where to find the open area, and I just kind of knew he was there.”

His 10th goal of the season — the most by any rookie through Saturday afternoon — extended his point streak to three games and gave him six points (two goals, four assists) during that span. He wasn’t done.

Michkov’s second of the night happened thanks to a perfect breakout and good puck support. Two things Tortorella preaches. Andrae started from behind the Flyers’ net and passed up to Sanheim on the half wall.

There wasn’t much pressure from the Bruins, so the Flyers worked the puck up the ice pretty easy and got it deep in the Bruins’ end. Now, did the Flyers get some help? Yes, but they still had the puck support. Boston blueliner Jordan Oesterle quickly tried to play the puck up the boards, but Morgan Frost distracted McAvoy in the corner so he couldn’t play it.

» READ MORE: Q&A: Flyers president Keith Jones talks Matvei Michkov, prospects, the goalie situation, and more

The clearing attempt then hit the skate of referee Brandon Schrader and softened along the boards for Sanheim, who sent a pass across the ice to an uncontested Michkov at the right post. He scored another slam-dunk goal for his third-straight multipoint game.

“He’s got a knack for scoring,” Sanheim said. “He wants to score goals. He enjoys scoring goals and puts himself in good positions to score goals. That’s just the player he is. Pretty easy play by me to find him when he’s sitting there wide open.”

Aleksei Kolosov bounced back from a so-so performance in relief on Thursday in which he allowed four goals on 20 shots. He allowed four goals on 31 shots, but some of the saves he made were memorable.

“Outstanding,” Tortorella said of his rookie netminder. “I didn’t think he was that good the last game. I didn’t think either of our goalies were. Outstanding to come into this building here against that club and play the way he did. It’s really good.”

Showing off his athleticism once again, he stoned Morgan Geekie in the second period. Geekie one-timed a cross-ice pass that Kolosov did a sliding split on. Frederic banged home a rebound a few seconds later, however.

Kolosov stoned a tip-in shot by Marchand in the first period on a power play and then robbed him again in the third period at the right post with the Flyers holding on to a one-goal lead. He stopped a redirect by Geekie a few minutes later too.

“He’s playing really good,” York said. “He made huge saves for us to keep us in it, and when he’s making saves like that, it gives us a ton of energy on the bench and makes us want to go out there and play better for him.”

Konecny did not play the final 13:55 of regulation or in overtime. Around the 16:30 mark of the third period, he was violently sandwiched by two Bruins, one being McAvoy, in front of the Bruins’ net. His helmet came off, and he was slow to get up and off the ice. On his next shift, he was called for interference in the neutral zone when he hit McAvoy as the puck went by. Konecny did not serve his penalty as he was pulled by the concussion spotter from the penalty box. He returned to the bench late in the period but did not see the ice again, more so as a benching. “He was pulled by the spotter, and I stopped playing him,” Tortorella said. “He’s undisciplined. He’s just too undisciplined.” ... Michkov is the third Flyers teenager to record three straight multipoint games. He joins Eric Lindros (1992-93) and Peter Zezel, who did it twice in 1984-85. ... Sanheim had two assists, giving him 200 NHL points.

The Flyers are right back on Sunday, when they host the Utah Hockey Club (7:30 p.m., NBCSP).