PHILADELPHIA – Noah Cates scored in overtime, lifting the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Wild on Saturday night, handing Minnesota its fourth loss in the past five games.
Leading with less than 14 minutes to play on Vladimir Tarasenko’s first goal as a member of the Wild, the Flyers turned the tables and dominated the late stretches of the game. Minnesota fell to 2-3-1 with the loss.
Jesper Wallstedt, making his second start of the season for the Wild, had 19 saves in the game, as Minnesota failed to gain separation after taking a lead.
Already beset with their share of injuries, the Wild lost top-line center Joel Eriksson Ek on the game’s opening shift. While defending in front of the Minnesota net, a high stick by Flyers winger Matvei Michkov caught Eriksson Ek in the face.
There was a delay of the game while the arena crew cleaned Eriksson Ek’s blood off the ice in front of the Wild crease. No penalty was called on the play. He returned to the game with just under eight minutes to play in the opening period.
The game was not yet two minutes old when gloves hit the ice and Wild winger Marcus Foligno fought Philadelphia’s Nicolas Deslauriers in the neutral zone.
The scoreless first period ended with Minnesota killing the game’s first penalty. Through all the chaos, the Wild managed just three shots on goal in the opening period for the second game in a row.
Minnesota finally broke the deadlock early in the second via a pretty individual play by Tarasenko. First he knocked down a waist-high pass from Marcus Johansson at the blue line to keep play in the offensive zone. The puck went down low to Marco Rossi as Tarasenko drifted toward the net. Rossi’s centering pass landed perfectly on Tarasenko’s stick blade, and the veteran ripped a rising shot over the shoulder of Flyers goalie Dan Vladar.
Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet unsuccessfully challenged the play for offside, giving the Wild their first power play of the game. Minnesota controlled the play on that man advantage and on a second one a short time later, but failed to double the lead.
But where the power play has been quiet for the last few nights, the penalty killers have been spot-on. With Wild players going to the penalty box late in the first and second periods, Minnesota kept the Flyers off the board and kept the crowd out of the game by consistently icing the puck, and with Wallstedt smothering pucks in and around the crease.
It took a fortunate bounce for the Flyers to tie the game in the third period, when Owen Tippet swatted blindly at the puck from behind the Minnesota net, and it glanced off the back of Wallstedt’s leg, landing over the goal line.
Vladar finished with 15 saves for the Flyers, who are 2-2-1 in their first season with Tocchet at the helm.
The Flyers make their only regular season visit to Minnesota on March 12 for a game at Grand Casino Arena. After a day off on Sunday, the Wild’s five-game road trip continues with a Monday night visit to Madison Square Garden for a meeting with the New York Rangers.
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