Flyers overcome four-goal deficit, but fall to Red Wings in shootout

DETROIT — After the first period coach John Tortorella was surely asking his staff to burn the majority of the tape from this one.

And then the tables turned.

After Thursday night’s 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators — over which coach John Tortorella was still fuming the next day when chatting with the media before puck drop — the team did not do much to protect themselves from his ire against the Detroit Red Wings with a poor start.

The Flyers trailed by a pair before the 10-minute mark of the first period. And by the time the buzzer sounded after the first 20, it was 5-1. Woof. Not the way to go after ending things so poorly the night before. It was the worst first period by the team this season and the most goals they’ve given up since a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings way back on Nov. 4.

But then came the pushback. Five straight goals to take a 6-5 lead before losing 7-6 on a Patrick Kane shootout goal.

“Take a breath,” Scott Laughton said about the conversation in the room after going down 5-1. “Stay even keel. Things aren’t always going to go your way. We haven’t been in this situation too many times this year, where it’s been that lopsided. So, I thought it was good. You want to get that second point but you lose in a skills competition.”

Added Carter Hart, who got the start: “It’s huge. Resilience, determination, just the fight on our team is pretty special. It’s not about the X’s and O’s, it’s about not giving in when times are tough. Being down 5-1 after the first period is a pretty tough spot, so to come out and get a point is huge.”

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After not being able to sustain much pressure in the first period, the Flyers settled down in the second and the third. Two of the goals, by Sean Couturier and Morgan Frost, were net-front deflections in a 24-second span in the middle frame. The goal by Bobby Brink, to get the Flyers on the board in the first, was off a nice 2-on-1 rush with fellow USA Hockey forward Joel Farabee, who undressed Detroit defenseman Olli Määtä to feed his flying linemate.

Garnet Hathaway added another in the third period, with another net-front tip-in, and the Flyers were cooking. It was his third goal of the season, first since Nov. 3, and seemed to spark the Orange and Black even more.

“You’ve seen our firepower,” Hathaway said. “And we’re great on the transition. I thought tonight we held possession a little more in their end and I think we threw the puck at the net. I think we felt like we could get on rebounds, we could break down their coverage a little better if we stay on pucks. ... How many of our goals were rebound goals or net-front goals? That was the difference tonight. It wasn’t rush goals. It was getting dirty enough to find a way to claw back in the game.”

Less than seven minutes after Hathaway, another guy who needed a goal, Laughton, got one.

The cracks started to show on James Reimer in the third period, especially. The Red Wings goalie had lost his last seven NHL starts and was 0-3-0 in his past three. He lost a shot by Tyson Foerster and Laughton buried the rebound. Then he couldn’t squeeze a shot by Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett scored to give the Flyers a 6-5 lead.

One of the few good things in this game was the return of Hart. The Flyers goalie had not started a game since a win against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 9; that’s five games he’s either watched as the backup (three) or did not dress due to illness (two).

“I feel fine,” Hart said. “Obviously, a tough first period but we stuck with it and battled and got a big point.”

Did he look rusty? Sure, a few rebounds, which he normally controls, got away from him. But he settled down and stopped all nine shots in the second period. He then stopped another eight in the third period — although he’ll want the goal by Dylan Larkin from below the goal line to tie it 6-6 back after he didn’t hug the post — as his teammates mounted a comeback.

“Up and down and all over the place. Made some great saves at the end,” Tortorella said when asked to assess his goalie’s game.

Hart made a big save on Larkin with just 2:38 left in regulation with it tied up. And then shined in the overtime session. He made six big-time stops, including robbing a wide-open Alex DeBrincat with 3:45 left in the extra session and Gostisbhere on a 2-on-1 in the waning seconds.

“He’s an unbelievable goalie,” Hathway said. “I don’t think we have a chance to get a point in that game if he doesn’t play as well as he does. And that’s throughout the game. I think he still made plays in the first period that saved us. It could have been worse.”

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To be fair to the Alberta netminder, on the majority of the goals, it was his buddies in front of him who lost their structure.

Patrick Kane gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead off a bad line change by the Flyers.

DeBrincat got the puck at the Flyers’ blue line and head-manned it for a flying Dylan Larkin, who was able to streak down the left side and fire off a shot that went off the right post. Kane cleaned up the rebound. Kane netted his second on a broken play, when Justin Holl’s point shot went off the skate of DeBrincat and pulled Hart out of position.

Then it was a power-play goal by Daniel Sprong as he cut through the crease and deflected on a point shot before J.T. Compher extended it to 4-1. After Joe Veleno got a couple of whacks at the left post, Compher was able to easily knock in the loose puck after Hart couldn’t freeze it and his teammates couldn’t clear it. The fifth goal came from an old friend, Shayne Gostisbehere, as he buried a wide shot by Kane.

Egor Zamula went back in on defense and Marc Staal was the odd man out. Zamula had two assists for his second career multi-point game. ... It was a bit of a disjointed game at times as both teams didn’t back down. Sixty-two penalty minutes were dished out, including 47 to the Flyers. Nick Seeler was ejected in the second period. He was called for instigating a fight with Christian Fischer, who did seem to hit him high, and Seeler had some choice words for the referee, leading to a 10-minute misconduct and a game.

The Flyers are off for the next four days for the holiday break before reconvening in Vancouver on Dec. 27 for a practice to kickstart a four-game swing that includes stops at each of the Western Canadian teams — Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton — and Seattle.