Sean Couturier scores game-winning goal in OT to lift Flyers past Nashville Predators

NASHVILLE ― The Flyers were hoping for some honky-tonk goodness in the Music City.

For 59 minutes, 48 seconds, the Flyers were playing instead like a sad country song. But then, in a flash — a streaking flash of Morgan Frost — it turned into a power anthem as he snuck past the Nashville Predators’ defense with the goalie pulled and tipped in a shot to tie the game, 2-2 with the clock almost to zero.

Captain Sean Couturier did the same in overtime, getting behind the Predators defense and tipping a backhand pass from Travis Konecny — with one hand on his stick — past goalie Juuse Saros to give the Flyers a shocking come-from-behind 3-2 win at 2:31 of the extra period.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to get the win,” Couturier said. “Guys battled hard till the end, just one of those nights where the execution wasn’t there and fighting a lot of pucks, but found a way to get the two points. That’s all that matters.”

In their 23rd game of the season, the Flyers came back in the third period to win for the sixth time. It is the most in the NHL; Wednesday’s game was their fourth one-goal comeback. They now have points in three straight games and eight of their last 10 (6-2-2).

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Flyers coach John Tortorella walked onto the bench to start the third period and went down the line patting players on the back. It was hard to see if he said anything, but it’s fair to assume the message was sent that they were still in it. And he did reveal postgame that they kept saying: “We’re one shot away.”

Plus, he knew in his back pocket that his team had a flair for the dramatic.

“For me as a coach, you’re always thinking, ‘Well, you can lean on that when you’re losing certain games. You can rely on some of the things we’ve done prior and had some success,’” Tortorella said of his team’s ability to rally and win late.

“So you know what? There were a lot of minutes that it just was not good for us tonight — and I readily admit that — but I just liked the way they just stayed with it and tried to plug along.”

The Flyers didn’t pour the shots on in the third period — they had just nine after putting a combined 13 shots on goal in the first two periods. And before Couturier sent the puck toward the net and Travis Sanheim knocked the puck down to give Frost an opportunity to make the redirect, the Flyers hadn’t gotten a shot on goal since the 2:48 mark of the third. That includes a power play with 2:23 left.

But they tied the game on Frost’s second goal in as many games — which comes following a stretch in which he was as a healthy scratch before returning to the lineup on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers won that one in overtime, too, despite trailing, 2-0, in — what else — the third period.

“Wasn’t our best effort, find a way to stay in the game and get one, late and end up probably stealing two points. But you look at the other night, probably a game that we should have had, and end up losing it,” Sanheim said, referencing the 5-4 shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. “That’s the way hockey is sometimes, and we’ll take the two points and move on.”

It was another up-and-down game for Scott Laughton.

One week ago, the Flyers’ alternate captain was benched for long stretches in a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He turned over the puck on the opening shift, leading to an early 1-0 deficit. He finished with 8:25 of ice time — his fewest minutes in Tortorella’s tenure as the Flyers’ coach.

In the next game against the Blackhawks, Laughton roared back with authority. He did a lot right but just couldn’t score. He finished with 11 shot attempts, eight of which were shots on goal, and was robbed by Chicago goalie Petr Mrázek on a two-on-none with Konecny in the first period.

Two nights later, against the Golden Knights, Laughton set up Garnet Hathaway atop the crease for a hard shot that allowed Emil Andrae to bury the rebound.

On Wednesday, Laughton skated just 9:43 but had three shot attempts — including his first goal since he scored a pair against the Seattle Kraken in the fourth game of the season. He provided puck support along the boards and helped the Flyers retrieve it deep in the offensive zone before he tried to send it to the front of the net. The puck bounced around, and he ended up putting it on net, scoring short-side from the bottom of the left faceoff circle.

His goal tied the game, but a misread a few minutes later helped the Predators retake the lead.

After the Flyers got stuck in their end, the Predators worked the puck down low. Laughton left his area around the left circle, appearing to go to his point. Instead, it left Nashville’s Ryan O’Reilly open for the one-timer past Flyers goalie Aleksei Kolosov.

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“For me, it starts where we lose three or four battles behind the net and we have them outnumbered, and we still get outworked. That’s the biggest part for me,” Tortorella said. “I think [Gustav] Nyquist makes a nice look [like] he’s going to go back to the point with the play. Laughts bites on it and leaves the good ice.

“Something he’ll learn from; you got to stay in the good ice and wait for the play to be made in front of you, not behind you. But I didn’t like what happened prior to that. So learn from it and move by it.”

Kolosov was a big reason the Flyers came back against the Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon despite trailing, 2-0, heading into the final period of regulation. So it’s no surprise that the rookie goalie played a role in the Flyers’ comeback on Wednesday.

Sure, he’d like the two goals he gave up back, but for the second straight game, he kept his team in it and now has two NHL wins to his name.

“He gave us a chance tonight,” Couturier said. “We weren’t at the best of our game. We weren’t sharp, and he kept us in it all game. Made us believe and gave us a chance, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Early in the contest, he flashed the leather a few times, beginning with a save on Nashville’s Fedor Svechkov and then another a few minutes later on Nyquist. He looked locked in early as he showed off his athleticism.

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The first goal he did allow was just a bad break during four-on-four action. Roman Josi, the 2020 Norris Trophy winner, carried the puck around the net and sent a centering pass to the front after Andrae released him at the left post. Sanheim picked him up at the right post but had the puck go in off his skate just 6:17 into the game.

On the second goal, O’Reilly’s shot snuck between Kolosov and the post, giving the Predators two goals on 10 shots in the first period. But Kolosov didn’t shut down. Instead, he shut out Nashville the rest of the way, stopping all 17 shots he faced after the first, including a pair in overtime.

“I think, obviously, early we give up a couple, and I just thought he battled hard and kept us in it,” Sanheim said. “That’s what we need on a night when we don’t have it.”

Kolosov definitely battled hard — and he had to, as the Flyers often were pinned in their own end. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Predators had 62.62% of the shot attempts, with the percentages much higher in each of the first two periods.

He kept the Predators at bay during a four-on-three power play early in the second period after Matvei Michkov was called for roughing. Nashville had six shot attempts, including four shots on goal, with one coming from 7 feet out by O’Reilly.

In the third period, he made a save on Steven Stamkos, but the shot squeaked through, and Sanheim swatted it away. He then stopped Jonathan Marchessault and Filip Forsberg in overtime before Couturier sealed the win.

“The past three games, we’ve gone through some ebbs and flows and momentum swings, and it hasn’t affected us,” Tortorella said. “We spent a ton of time in our end tonight, blocked [33 shots]. … Pretty good indicator you’ve been in there quite a bit. So we just tried to work through it.

“When you’re struggling, as far as the tilt of the ice and not winning battles to go forecheck, you spend some time in your end, so you’ve got to play defense, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that. When they were breakdowns, I thought Koly made some big saves.”

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Defenseman Egor Zamula remained a healthy scratch. … Hathaway had seven hits in the game, and Rasmus Ristolainen had three, including a booming hit on Alexandre Carrier that led to a Michkov shot attempt from the slot. … Lehigh Valley also got a late goal and overtime winner in its game at the Hartford Wolfpack. Garrett Wilson scored with 1:47 left in regulation before Samu Tuomaala scored in the extra session.

The Flyers have a Black Friday matchup with the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center (1 p.m., NBCSP).