Ivan Provorov scored at 3:09 of overtime to lift the Philadelphia Flyers past the host Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 in the final game of the season for both teams on Thursday.
Travis Konecny had two goals and two assists and Owen Tippett contributed a goal and an assist for the Flyers (31-38-13, 75 points), who won their final two games.
Noah Cates added a goal and Morgan Frost had two assists. Flyers goaltender Felix Sandstrom made 34 saves.
Andreas Athanasiou led the Blackhawks (26-49-7, 59 points) with a goal and two assists. Jujhar Khaira, Anders Bjork and Jonathan Toews scored one goal each, and Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock stopped 31 shots.
Toews, who won three Stanley Cups in his 15 seasons in Chicago, received a standing ovation from the crowd in what was his final game with the franchise. Toews hasn’t said if he will retire, but the Blackhawks stated that they would not re-sign him.
Toews nearly won the game for Chicago as he had a breakaway chance at 3:49 of overtime. However, Sandstrom turned away his backhand shot.
With Philadelphia up 4-3, Frost fired a shot on goal from point blank range at 8:17 of the third period, but Stalock was able to deny the chance and clear the puck.
The Blackhawks then began creating chances with Athanasiou having two stellar shots saved by Sandstrom.
Stalock was pulled for an extra skater at 17:19, and Athanasiou tapped in a rebound at 18:00 to tie the game at 4.
The Flyers went ahead 26 seconds into the game when Konecny scored.
Konecny’s second goal, at 6:21 of the first period off a rebound, gave the Flyers a 2-0 advantage.
Khaira put the Blackhawks on the board at 7:28 of the first, and Bjork equalized less than two minutes later when he pounced on a loose puck and scored.
The Flyers took a 3-2 lead just 46 seconds into the second period when Tippett connected for an unassisted tally.
Cates then scored on the power play at 4:22 of the second for a quick 4-2 advantage.
The Blackhawks cut the deficit to 4-3 when Toews scored with a redirection in front on the power play at 7:40 of the second.
–Field Level Media
