Cam York’s OT winner eliminates the Penguins, as Flyers advance to second round for the first time since 2020

They say the third time’s the charm.

After striking out in their first two attempts to close the door on their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers finally came through with a harrowing 1-0 overtime win in Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

With two minutes, 28 seconds left in the extra session, after a faceoff win by Noah Cates and a backhand feed from Matvei Michkov, Cam York fired a snap shot past Artūrs Šilovs, and the crowd erupted. York, who has had an up-and-down start to his career in Philly, threw his stick into the crowd in celebration as the bench emptied, the management suite jumped up and down, and the coaches hugged.

Monday night was the second time the Penguins had forced a Game 6 when trailing three to nothing in a best-of-seven series. And like the 2012 conference quarterfinals, the Flyers finished off the Penguins in Game 6.

The Flyers will now face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The schedule for that series has yet to be announced.

The first five minutes of overtime suggested that the Flyers were ready to end the game quickly, but they couldn’t find the back of the net, including on a golden opportunity involving Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny after the latter had forced a turnover at the defensive blue line. The ice then tilted in the Penguins’ favor with Dan Vladař making several 10-bell saves, Nick Seeler laying his body on the line to block a dangerous shot, and Rasmus Ristolainen stretching out his body to knock the puck out of the Flyers’ zone for a key clear.

And that came after both teams failed to score across the 60 minutes of regulation, even if it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

» READ MORE: Flyers exceed expectations with thrilling first-round series win over the Penguins in overtime

Aside from the usual scrums and some questionable calls by the referees, the new lines Flyers coach Rick Tocchet deployed had some pep in their step to start, with the Flyers putting 11 shots on goal in the first period before adding another 15 in the next two. In all, the Flyers created 11 high-danger chances through the first 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh had 32 shots in regulation, with 13 in the final period, and six from high-danger spots in that frame.

The Flyers’ new lines featured Owen Tippett with Zegras and Porter Martone; Denver Barkey with Christian Dvorak and Konecny, who was shifted back to right wing; Alex Bump stayed with Cates and was joined by Michkov, who was a healthy scratch in Game 5, on the right; and Tyson Foerster was shifted to the fourth line with Sean Couturier and Luke Glendening.

Tippett had the best chance for the Flyers in the opening frame, when, on a broken play in the neutral zone, he picked the puck up with speed. The fleet-of-foot forward went around Penguins blueliner Ilya Solovyov, and cut across the crease before being stopped by the left toe of Šilovs.

But the Flyers also had a Ristolainen shot handcuff the goalie with 14:14 to go, and the captain, Couturier, who had a smart, savvy game, had a turnaround rebound chance in front stopped after a point shot by Noah Juulsen, who returned to the lineup after sitting on Monday.

Early in the second period, it was Barkey making a heads-up play to York for a chance down the middle, and then his own chance was blocked by Kris Letang right after. Dvorak and Travis Sanheim also combined for a short-handed chance by the forwardl, before Egor Chinakhov hit the pipe on that same power play.

Michkov, who got better as the game wore on, had two stellar chances to open the scoring in the second and another in the third. The first came after he got behind the defense, but was robbed by Šilovs on a breakaway. Later in the shift, he tried to stuff the puck at the right post after a Bump shot on goal, but could not quite sneak it across. In the final period, he skated in on the left side, trying to score against the grain, but Šilovs made a glove save.

And if it wasn’t for the play of Vladař, especially when the veteran Penguins turned it up in the third period and overtime, the Flyers would never have had a chance.

In the first period, he stoned Erik Karlsson after the Penguins defenseman carried the puck down the right boards and behind the net before peeling out in front. Vladař then showed he was on his game when, during a two-on-one with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby bearing down and just Jamie Drysdale back, he stopped Malkin’s shot and pushed the rebound out past Crosby as he crashed down the left side.

As the period ticked down and the Penguins pressed, he made a big-time save on Connor Dewar from 10 feet out, and then another on a Rickard Rakell backhander from 14 feet away.

And in the third period, when the Penguins pushed, the Czech netminder played his best, making an outstanding pad save as Bryan Rust ripped a shot on goal from in tight and then tried to jam home the rebound. Vladař finished with 42 saves for his second shutout of the series.

Forward Garnet Hathaway and defenseman Emil Andrae were healthy scratches. Hathaway played in the first five games of the series, while Andrae came out on Wednesday after returning in Game 5 from an upper-body injury.

The Flyers will next head to Carolina for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Hurricanes. Schedule TBD.