Flyers suffer gut-wrenching loss in OT, are flirting with a double-digit skid originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
John Tortorella was 2:58 minutes away from having a happy — or at least happier — Thanksgiving.
But his Flyers, absolutely desperate for a victory, relinquished a 2-1 lead en route to a 3-2 overtime loss Wednesday night to the Capitals.
Future Hockey Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin scored the winner just 1:04 minutes into OT at Capital One Arena.
The Flyers (7-8-5) have lost eight straight (0-5-3), a stretch in which they’ve been outscored 35-17.
They’re 0-4 in overtime this season.
Four days ago, Tortorella’s club let a one-goal lead slip away with three seconds left in regulation for a 5-4 shootout loss to the Canadiens.
On Wednesday night, the Flyers were nursing a 2-1 edge when Sonny Milano drew Washington even with just under three minutes remaining.
The Flyers, who never trailed during the game, got goals from Morgan Frost and Patrick Brown.
This was the Flyers’ first meeting with the Capitals (8-10-3) this season. They face Washington three more times.
The Capitals, also dealing with a slew of injuries to key pieces, snapped a four-game losing streak.
• In the span of a year and six days, the Flyers have had the following losing streaks:
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13 games — 0-10-3 from Dec. 30, 2021-Jan. 25, 2022
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10 games — 0-8-2 from Nov. 18-Dec. 8, 2021
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8 games — 0-5-3 from Nov. 10-23, 2022
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6 games — 0-4-2 from Feb. 9-22, 2022
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6 games — 0-6-0 from April 9-19, 2022
That’s a lot of losing for fans to stomach in just over a year.
• For a second straight game, the Flyers were without six forwards because of injuries. Ten of their 12 forwards in Wednesday night’s lineup had under 200 games of NHL experience, with Jackson Cates being the most recent addition.
Brown, who joined the lineup last week after recovering from offseason back surgery, had a timely first goal of the season. With 5:27 minutes left in the second period, the 30-year-old center got a piece of a shot from Ivan Provorov to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead.
Provorov made a skilled spin to put the puck toward the net, where Brown battled for position.
The Flyers received friendly bounces on both of their goals. They shouldn’t apologize for being a bit lucky, but they needed to finish the job.
• Felix Sandstrom played his first game in 10 days. He was strong, converting 29 saves on 32 shots and giving the Flyers a good chance to win.
The 25-year-old was in net the last time the Flyers won on Nov. 8.
Darcy Kuemper, who won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche last season, stopped 21 of the Flyers’ 23 shots for Washington.
• Frost was the beneficiary of a fortuitous bounce to start the game’s scoring. He needed a bounce to go his way as it marked his first goal since opening night, when he had two in the Flyers’ 5-2 win over the Devils.
On this marker just 5:27 minutes into the game, Frost’s shot ricocheted off of Kuemper directly into the air and landed behind the netminder before trickling into the net.
About five and a half minutes later, the Capitals answered on a power play.
The Flyers have surrendered a league-high nine power play goals during their eight-game skid.
Their own power play went 0 for 4 Wednesday night and has gone 2 for 26 (7.7 percent) during the eight-game skid.
The Flyers had a chance to cushion their lead to 3-1 with a pair of man advantage opportunities in the third period but failed to convert.
More: 5 most troubling aspects to Flyers’ elongated losing streak
• Nicolas Deslauriers had a quietly effective game. He collected a secondary assist on Brown’s goal, played solid PK minutes and was physical, per usual.
Kieffer Bellows played on the fourth line with Deslauriers and had his best game as a Flyer. He drew a penalty and had five shots.
• Justin Braun was hobbled a bit after blocking a shot with his left skate during the second period. He was able to stay in the game.
The 35-year-old defenseman committed two penalties and Washington scored off of the first one.
• The Penguins make their only trip to Philadelphia this season for the Flyers’ annual Black Friday game at the Wells Fargo Center (5:30 p.m. ET/TNT).
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