The Flyers spoil a four-goal second period, lose to the New York Rangers in shootout

NEW YORK — The Flyers seemed to have the game in hand, thanks to a four-goal second period, but then the lights went out on Broadway.

Heading into the third period with a 4-2 lead, the Flyers allowed the New York Rangers to come back and steal a 5-4 shootout win. It is the first time this season the Flyers led heading into the third period and lost (10-0-1).

Mika Zibanejad tied the game with 2 minutes, 34 seconds left in regulation, beating his countryman, Sam Ersson, with a one-timer from the left circle. The Rangers had a power play after Rasmus Ristolainen was called for delay of game, when he sent the puck over the glass.

“I think we just can’t sit back as much as we do,” said forward Owen Tippett. “We put ourselves in great spots, and obviously we play a certain way to get there, and I think we just have to kind of continue playing that way and not worry about sitting back.”

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Artemi Panarin, who had a pair in regulation, and Vincent Trocheck, who scored the Rangers’ third goal, each beat Ersson in the skills competition. New York netminder Igor Shesterkin stopped Trevor Zegras before Travis Konecny hit the post.

The Flyers have lost two straight and five of their past six games, with four of the losses coming after regulation.

“We’re starting to learn how to win,” coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “This group’s going to have to learn, but they’re working hard. We [were up] 4-2 and had a couple of opportunities to score, and then we leave it for chance, right? A penalty. You can’t take your foot off.”

Denver Barkey spent Friday afternoon tossing and turning in bed, trying to get his pregame nap in before Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League’s game against Bridgeport.

“Couldn’t fall asleep, and I rolled over and checked the time on my phone and saw a few missed calls from [Flyers general manager Danny Brière] and a text saying, call me back ASAP, so kind of clicked in there,” Barkey said of when he found out he was being called up to the Flyers.

“Yeah, super cool moment.”

Those lights were bright on Broadway for the forward as he had an “eye-opening experience” making his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden with his parents and brother in attendance despite snow in Toronto delaying their arrival.

They must have enjoyed it even more when the forward made his presence known from puck drop. Literally, as he got the start with linemates Sean Couturier and Tippett.

On his first shift, Barkey forced Shesterkin to freeze the puck on a shot by Tippett. On his next shift, he almost scored — twice.

The Flyers controlled the perimeter and the boards with Barkey, Couturier, and Tippett cycling the puck down low. Couturier got the puck in the left corner and sent it around to Tippett before finding Barkey crashing down. He shot the puck off the pass and then got a rebound chance.

In the third period, he came close to scoring his first NHL goal as he drove to the net. Couturier sent the pass to the 5-foot-10, 173-pound forward as he tried to finish backdoor.

“I’ve actually played with him a couple years now in camp, and obviously, super skilled player, and brings a lot of energy,” Tippett said. “Were telling him to kind of play his game and not worry about anything else. And I think he played great.”

In the second period, Barkey got on the scoresheet with a pair of primary assists.

His first came on a power play, when he got the puck off the right boards and fed Travis Sanheim in the high slot. The defenseman skated down and fired the wrister from the slot past the stick of Shesterkin. It is Sanheim’s first power-play tally since Jan. 31, 2019, against the Boston Bruins.

Just 23 seconds later, he got point No. 2. Flyers defenseman Cam York threw a backhander on net that was knocked down by Rangers defenseman Will Borgen in front. Barkey scooped up the loose puck and sent the backhand pass to Tippett, who was at the left point. The forward skated in between the circles and also beat Shesterkin stick side.

“The way he played tonight, the way he competes, yeah, I’m going to fight for him,” Tocchet said when asked if Barkey has a chance to stick around. ”Listen, he’s a young kid too. You want to make sure that he has enough reps where he’s going to be, but I saw enough tonight, and that’s a short sample side, that he’s a good little player."

In the second period, Barkey also drew a penalty that led to yet another power-play goal for the Flyers. The penalty came in the offensive zone, after the forward cleared the puck away from the front of the Flyers’ end.

On the ensuing power play, the Flyers ran what appeared to be a set play. Noah Cates won the face-off back to Jamie Drysdale at the left point. The defenseman sent it across to his good buddy, Zegras, and the New York native sent a one-timer into the back of the net.

Zegras has a team-leading 15 goals and 35 points in 34 games. He is riding a seven-game point streak (five goals, four assists).

It is the first time the Flyers have scored two power-play goals in a game since Dec. 3 against the Sabres, which was also the last time the Flyers got a tally on the man advantage. They went 0-for-16 across the past seven games.

But what made the day extra special was the Flyers getting their first short-handed goal of the season. Rodrigo Ābols forced defenseman Scott Morrow to make a pass across the ice that was picked off by Sanheim.

The defenseman skated down and made a nifty move around Morrow on a two-on-one. His pass went off the skate of Ābols as he crashed the net. The goal is Ābols’ second of the season.

Philly had two chances to win the game in overtime. Panarin slashed York eight seconds into the extra session. They had four shot attempts, with Konecny missing the net twice.

Then, with 51 seconds left in overtime, Zegras was pulled down by Morrow, but the Flyers couldn’t find the back of the net. Shesterkin stopped a tip-in chance by Konecny from 6 feet out with 33 seconds left, and Zegras had a shot blocked.

“Yeah, it’s tough. ... I think it’s something that we’ve got to get a lot better at, because that’s, two four-on-threes in overtime, like you’ve got to come up with a goal for the team there,” Zegras said. “Just not good enough.”

Added Tocchet: “We had chances at the end, four-on-three. We have some guys here who’ve got to help us. Got to score there. Too slow with the four-on-three. ... We’ve just got to learn how to handle pressure. We knew at the beginning of the year we had to start to do [that], but take the point when we thought we should have had two.”

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Before the game, Brière announced that goalie Dan Vladař “has got a little, little boo-boo.” The goalie has an upper-body injury is “Nothing too serious,” and “he should be back, we hope, by Monday.”

With that, Ersson got the start in goal for the second straight game. Although he came up big at times, he still allowed four goals on 27 shots, including two on 10 shots in the final frame.

Panarin, who was clearly the Rangers’ best player Saturday, beat Ersson twice. His first goal of the game, with 26 seconds left in the first period, put the Flyers in a 1-0 hole. It is the 24th time in 34 games that the Flyers have trailed 1-0.

Off a face-off in the Flyers’ end, Zibanejad got the puck on the right boards and chipped the pass to Panarin alone in the middle of the ice. He sent the wrister stick-side past Ersson.

The Russian winger scored again in the second period after Tippett turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Panarin intercepted his backhand pass in the middle of the ice, skated down the right wing, and fired the snapshot off the far post and in.

Trocheck cut it to 4-3 in the third period after Ersson made a brilliant save on the Pittsburgh native, but couldn’t control the rebound. Trocheck’s second shot appeared to nick the skate of Nikita Grebenkin before getting past Ersson.

“Comparing this one to recent third periods, I thought this one was a little bit better. I think maybe just a couple mental breakdowns, obviously, that led to the goal that was bouncing around. And then obviously they got one on the power play late to tie it up.” Zegras said.

”But, I mean, I thought we were playing better in the third than we normally have. So I guess that’s exciting, but still not good enough."

Forward Garnet Hathaway was a healthy scratch for the first time with the Flyers on Saturday. The winger does not have a point in 33 games this season. “He’s had some tough moments and stuff like that. He’s trying to find his game,” said Tocchet, when asked about Hathaway postgame. “... He’s good when he plays with speed guys. So we’ve also got to help him, too.” ... Forward Christian Dvorak (lower-body injury) did not play. Neither Dvorak nor Vladař’s injury is expected to be long-term, per Brière. Goalie Aleksei Kolosov was recalled under emergency conditions and served as the backup. ... The Flyers are 12-7-5 when trailing 1-0; their 12 wins lead the NHL. ... The two goals assisted on by Barkey, 23 seconds apart, is the sixth time this season the Flyers have scored twice within 25 seconds. It is three more than the next-closest team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Flyers head home for a meeting with coach Rick Tocchet’s old team, the Vancouver Canucks, on Monday (NHLN, NBCSP, 7:30 p.m.).

They finish up the schedule before the NHL’s holiday break with a quick trip on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks (9 p.m., TNT, truTV, HBO Max).