THE PHILADELPHIA TIMES (AP) — Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point scored in the shootout and regulation to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Thursday night.Mathieu Joseph also scored in regulation for the Lightning, who have won seven of their last nine games.For the Flyers, who have now lost eight straight regular-season games to Tampa Bay, Claude Giroux scored twice and Travis Konecny also scored.In the tiebreaker, Stamkos and Point beat Flyers goalie Carter Hart on the blocker side, while Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier and Giroux were unable to convert.
The Lightning appeared to have won it in regulation when Stamkos scored his team-leading ninth goal from a tight angle with 1:56 remaining in the third. As the puck wiggled through his equipment and just over the goal line, Hart couldn’t make a seemingly routine save.
With 8.1 seconds remaining, Giroux scored his second goal of the game to force overtime. Derick Brassard won a faceoff back to Giroux, who fired a long wrist shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s blocker side.
The Flyers had the best chances in the five-minute, three-on-three overtime, but Scott Laughton’s shot drew iron and Cam Atkinson was stopped by Vasilevskiy with a pad save.Vasilevskiy came up with 27 saves. Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli each had two assists.1:34 into the game, Giroux’s highlight-reel goal put the game on the board. Brassard fed Giroux at the blue line, and the Flyers captain slipped behind Lightning defensemen Cal Foote and Mikhail Sergachev to go in alone on Vasilevskiy.
Giroux deked beautifully from his backhand to his forehand to score his sixth goal of the season.Later in the first, Konecny scored from a tight angle past Vasilevskiy’s blocker, putting Philadelphia up 2-0.
Tampa Bay tied it in the second period with two goals.Point scored on a power play 1:51 into the period, taking a pass from Stamkos and shooting with his backhand from in front of the crease that deflected off Hart’s stick handle and just inside the post.With 5:08 remaining in the second, Joseph tied it.
Killorn fired the puck toward the net, where it deflected off defenseman Justin Braun’s stick in front and onto Joseph’s forehand, which he stuffed between Hart’s right foot and the post. Killorn has now had an assist in five consecutive games.THE IRON MANKeith Yandle of Philadelphia played in his 937th straight game and is now 28 games away from tying Doug Jarvis for the longest consecutive game streak in NHL history.
THE TRAINER’S ROOMD for lightning Erik Cernak (upper body) missed his third game in a row. Cirelli wore a face shield after breaking his nose in the third period of the Islanders’ 4-1 victory on Monday.D fliers Ryan Ellis (lower body) will be sidelined for four to six weeks but will not require surgery.
He has missed ten of the last eleven games. … C Kevin Hayes (lower body) was not in the starting lineup. Hayes missed the first 12 games but returned for the last two, scoring his first goal in Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime victory over Calgary. He appeared to be injured late in the second period of that game, but he came back for the third. … F Patrick Brown (dislocated thumb) did not play following his injury on Tuesday.
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