Flyers Snooze Through Most Of Shootout Loss In Detroit

"It seemed quite obvious that the Philadelphia Flyers were looking past the Detroit Red Wings, who came into tonight on a 10-game losing streak, but when every point is important while battling for a playoff spot you cannot afford to take any nights off.
The Flyers played a rather uninspired first period as they came out very flat with two important points on the line. They were outshot 13-9 by the Red Wings and did not draw a single penalty during the scoreless opening 20 minutes of the game.
The Flyers got their first power play early in the second period but were unable to get a shot on net. A couple of minutes after the penalty expired, Dylan Larkin opened the scoring at the 6:08 mark. Larkin skated down on an odd-man rush and looked off the pass and beat Petr Mrazek to snap his 17-game goal drought.
Shortly after the opening tally, the Flyers went back to the power play where we saw both teams find the back of the net over the next two minutes. Luke Glendening put Detroit up 2-0 with a shorthanded goal by firing a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the right dot that should have been stopped by Mrazek. The tally was Glendening's first goal in the last 18 games.
Less than a minute later, another goal drought ended as Sean Couturier finally hit the 30-goal mark after being stuck on 29 for the last 15 games. Claude Giroux's shot from above the left circle hit off the crossbar and Couturier was in the perfect spot and the side of the net to whack the puck back into the net. Shayne Gostisbehere picked up the secondary assist on Couturier's 100^th career goal.
Evgeny Svenchikov killed the momentum from the Couturier goal by giving the Red Wings a 3-1 just 64 seconds later. The youngster found a loose puck in the slot and quickly whipped it past Mrazek for his first career NHL goal. Mrazek was pulled in favor of Alex Lyon after this goal and had a few words for the coaching staff on his way off the ice. The Flyers gave him very little help with just five shots during the second period.
Whatever Dave Hakstol said to his team during the second period worked as his team played much better during the third period. The theme of the night continued as Matt Read scored his first goal in the NHL in nearly a year to cut the lead to 3-2 at 7:40. Read got to the front of the net to redirect a shot by Scott Laughton past Jimmy Howard. Jori Lehtera had the second helper on the play.
Shayne Gostisbehere tied the game with his 13^th goal of the season just under two minutes later. While on the power play, Gostisbehere fired a wrist shot from right circle through a Wayne Simmonds screen. Jakub Voracek and Giroux picked up the assists.
Larkin struck again to give the Wings a 4-3 lead with just under six minutes remaining in regulation. Anthony Mantha forced a turnover behind the net and found Larkin right out in front where he quickly flicked the puck past Lyon.
Travis Konecny tied the game just 28 seconds later by skating hard to the net and batting Couturier's behind the net. The goal was waved off because Konecny knocked the net off its moorings while he was being pushed by Niklas Kronwall. After a review, the call was overturned and the goal was put back on the scoreboard. Giroux picked up his third assist of the night on the play to tie Voracek for the league lead.
The game headed to a shootout thanks to some huge stops by Lyon in overtime, including robbing Danny DeKeyser with a fantastic pad save. However, Frans Nielsen scored the only tally of the shootout with Voracek, Jordan Weal and Nolan Patrick all coming up empty.
The Flyers now find themselves in the top wild card spot as the Columbus Blue Jackets won their ninth game in a row to jump ahead of them into third place. The New Jersey Devils can pull within two points of the Flyers if they win late in San Jose. The Flyers will return home on Thursday to play the New York Rangers. "