This time, it wasn't newcomer Shayne Gostisbehere to save the Flyers in overtime, as he had to do the last two times Philadelphia found themselves playing extra hockey. No, this go-around, it was Matt Read who put the Flyers ahead for good on the team's fourth straight win, their longest unbeaten streak of the season.
NHL scores 2015: Flyers continue overtime brilliance with Matt Read game winner
Philadelphia continued their dominance in OT after failing to hold onto a lead, again.
Read's goal, wonderful in its own right for the sole purpose of his stalling stick handling that confused netminder Cory Schneider into giving up the tally, is just the Flyers most recent overtime hero. Up-and-coming offensive defenseman Gostisbehere had Philadelphia's last two in November, both identical down to the stat line, and both in games where the Flyers had given up the last goal to relinquish their leads.
While the trend might be troubling, as again the Flyers allowed a tying goal in the dying moments of a game they had led, their overtime successes have compensated for their failings over the last few weeks. After losing four of their first six overtime opportunities, Philadelphia is close to breaking even with these last three victories. This upswing has coincided nicely with the call up of Gostisbehere, who is being heralded in the city of Philadelphia as their savior on the blue line. Not surprising, given the state of the city’s sports teams.
Regardless, the Flyers uptick in play has helped them close the gap on the Devils, who lead Philadelphia by two points with the same amount of games played. Certainly, the Flyers tendency to take the foot off the gas in the final moments of games will come back to haunt them unless they can find a way to keep their energy levels high until the last buzzer. For now, however, Philadelphia will look to continue their good fortunes on their next two opponents in Metropolitan Division rivals, the Blue Jackets and Islanders, over the next handful of days.
Read's first career OT goal and 4th goal of season give the Flyers a 4-3 win and a four-game winning streak. Points in 8 of last 10 (6-2-2).
— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) December 5, 2015 Scores
Philadelphia Flyers 4, New Jersey Devils 3 (OT)
Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Florida Panthers 1 (SO)
New York Islanders 2. St. Louis Blues 1 (SO)
Calgary Flames 5, Boston Bruins 4 (OT)
Edmonton Oilers 2, Dallas Stars 1 (OT)
3 things we learned
1. The young kids had a good night
Johnny Gaudreau and Max Domi both had multi-point evenings for their respective teams, with Gaudreau notching a four point night with an assist and a hat trick. Domi scored both of Arizona's goals in the loss while Gaudreau completed the hat trick with the game winner in OT. For Domi, who is in the hunt for the Calder, the pair of tallies ties him with Dylan Larkin and Oscar Lindberg at 10 goals on the year. Though Gaudreau may no longer be eligible for the trophy, his career high evening helped the Flames win their sixth game in OT this season.
#Flames improve to 6-1 in overtime. Gaudreau's second career hat-trick and first career four point game tonight.
— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) December 5, 2015 2. Dougie Hamilton made himself the narrative, then found himself quickly replaced
In what might have been the most poetic justice moment of the season, former Boston Bruin Dougie Hamilton found himself on the receiving end of a penalty that allowed his previous club a chance to win the game late in a tied match. Hamilton hooked Brad Marchand with less than two minutes to go in a 3-3 game, essentially giving the Bruins the game when his former teammate connected on a five-hole tally. Then, in a cruel twist of fun-hating fate, Jiri Hudler tied the game right back for Calgary with a goal with 1.2 seconds left. Oh, the stories that could have been had if Hamilton's mistake against his former team stood as the final story.
3. The Florida Panthers are still rolling
On a much better effort than the previous night, the Panthers kept up the winning streak to five games after a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jackets in the shootout.
The @FlaPanthers have won five consecutive road games dating to Nov. 14, which equals their franchise record from Nov. 30 – Dec. 12, 2008.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 5, 2015 Impact Moment
How Colton Parayko managed to not injure himself on this play and return to the game is still a mystery to me.
RIP Parayko. ...WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE RETURNED TO THE GAME? pic.twitter.com/GTTQ4EqMcS
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 5, 2015 Stat of the Night
Buffalo has 4+ goals in 4 straight games (same season) for the first time since they did it in 5 straight from Feb. 20 to March 2, 2007.
— Sabres PR (@SabresPR) December 5, 2015 Post to Post
- Mike Smith held the post with a toe on this Johan Larsson breakaway save
- Karri Ramo had an important part in the Flames comeback, as he flashed the glove to deny a phenomenal Boston sequence in the second periodThese dads of Devils players went hard when New Jersey scored their tying goal to send the game to OT
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