Matvei Michkov scored his third overtime goal of November to help the Philadelphia Flyers close the month in style with a 3-2 win over the host St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Michkov, who doesn’t turn 20 until Dec. 9, scored the decisive goal on a breakaway after Travis Konecny found him with a sprawling outlet pass while falling to the ice. Michkov also had a sparkling assist earlier in the game, while Aleksei Kolosov made 26 saves for Philadelphia.
The Blues’ Jake Neighbours forced overtime with a tally late in regulation, and Dylan Holloway also scored for the hosts. Jordan Binnington made 28 saves for St. Louis, which lost for the first time in three games under new coach Jim Montgomery.
Following a late penalty on Konecny, the Blues tied it on a 6-on-4 advantage with 18.3 seconds left in regulation. Kolosov made a nice save on Jordan Kyrou in the slot then a sensational toe stop on Justin Faulk on the doorstep, but Neighbours poked the puck into the net as Kolosov was scrambling to smother the rebound.
Trailing 1-0, the Blues tied it with 8:49 left on Holloway’s seventh goal. Brayden Schenn centered it to Holloway in the slot, and he had plenty of time to gather and unleash a wrister that beat Kolosov.
Less than a minute later, Bobby Brink got behind the defense and had Binnington beat, but his soft backhander hit the post. The puck just momentarily sat to the left of the crease, however, and Tyson Foerster pounced on it for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Philadelphia opened the scoring 9:15 into the game on Owen Tippett’s fifth goal of the season. Michkov drew the attention of a St. Louis defenseman on a 2-on-1 and slipped a perfect pass to Tippett, who shoved the puck past a helpless Binnington.
With just under 10 minutes left in regulation, the Flyers had a chance to score on a Sean Couturier breakaway — and the ensuing scramble in front — but they were unable to poke it home. Those missed opportunities proved critical as St. Louis tied it 1-1 about a minute later.
–Field Level Media
