Flyers end five-game skid with 4-3 shootout win over Lightning

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Mar 13, 2025

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers showed some spunk on Thursday.

Taking on the Stanley Cup playoff-bound Tampa Bay Lightning during Pearl Jam night at the Wells Fargo Center, the game had an even flow and the Flyers battled back more than once to tie things up.

The result? The Flyers came alive with a 4-3 shootout win to snap a five-game losing streak. Owen Tippett scored the game-winner with a shimmy in the shooutout’s fifth round. Sam Ersson stopped Oliver Bjorkstrand to cap the win.

The Lightning took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by rookie Gage Goncalves in the first period. After Tampa Bay entered the zone, Ryan McDonagh faked a shot and sent the puck to Yanni Gourde in the left faceoff circle. He quickly turned and sent it to Goncalves at the right post for the tap-in.

Bobby Brink had his legs going all night. His new linemates Olle Lycksell and Ryan Poehling were right there with him.

Brink tied the game 1-1 later in the first after Lycksell made a strong play to poke the puck away from Goncalves and then out-battled him to take control along the boards. Lycksell broke out with Poehling and they had a give-and-go down the left wing before the Swede made a saucer pass to Brink in the right circle. Brink took the puck off his skate and fired it short-side for his ninth goal of the season.

After Tampa Bay’s Zemgus Girgensons put the puck past Ersson 15 seconds into the second period, Brink tied it up again. This time it came after the Flyers killed off his hooking penalty.

Brink got out of the box and back into the play on the Flyers’ end. Sean Couturier, still on the ice from the penalty kill, out-battled Nick Paul for the puck deep in the Flyers zone, and skated up the ice before sending a cross-ice pass to Brink streaking down the right side. Brink got past the Lightning and beat goaltender Jonas Johansson on the backhand for his second career two-goal game and 10th of the season.

Then, with 59 seconds left in the middle frame, Brink added an assist. After getting the puck out of their end, Tippett pushed it along the left wing boards to a flying Brink who chased it down into the corner. Brink turned and fed Lycksell, who found an open Poehling in front. The center buried the puck around the out-of-position Johansson.

But Ersson has struggled lately and Thursday night was another tough night for the Flyers goalie. He allowed three goals on 20 shots, including a third-period tally from an old friend. In his first game back at the Wells Fargo Center, Cam Atkinson scored 3:50 into the third past the glove of Ersson to tie the game up.

Breakaways

Atkinson had 78 points (36 goals, 42 assists) in 143 games for the Flyers after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Voráček. … With defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen out with an undisclosed injury, Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula were paired up. … Poehling’s goal was his first since Jan. 11. It ended a 12-game drought as the forward missed time with a concussion.

Up next

The Flyers host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.