PHILADELPHIA _ Well, they weren't going to win every game, right?
Despite getting 37 saves from Anthony Stolarz and despite getting a late goal in regulation from Jake Voracek, the Flyers' eight-game winning streak came to an end Thursday as they dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to Los Angeles at the Wells Fargo Center.
Tyler Toffoli won it in the sixth round of the shootout.
After the third round, the Flyers charged onto the ice, thinking they had won after it appeared Adrian Kempe's shot hit the crossbar.
But the replay showed the puck went into the top part of the net before bouncing out and the shootout continued. (Nolan Patrick had scored before Kempe's turn.)
With their goalie pulled for an extra skater, Voracek tied it with 17.6 seconds left, taking a pass from Claude Giroux and firing a left-circle shot over Jonathan Quick's right shoulder. Voracek punched the air triumphantly.
With 57.8 seconds left in OT, the Flyers' Travis Konecny whipped a shot off the crossbar on a two on one. Stolarz then made the save of the night, a diving stop on Kempe's point-blank shot with 14.1 seconds to go in overtime.
The Flyers, who also had their six-game home winning streak snapped, will continue their five-game homestand Saturday afternoon against visiting Anaheim.
Trailing 2-1, Voracek made a great move to get free in the slot, but his shot hit the left post with 18:48 left in regulation.
About two minutes later, the Toffoli also hit iron, this time while Los Angeles was killing a delay-of-game penalty.
Badly outplayed for most of the first 27 minutes, the Flyers still managed to tie the score at 1 when Sean Couturier scored 22nd goal of the season and seventh in his last 10 games.
Taking a slick pass from a diving Giroux, an all-alone Couturier scored on a backhander from the slot, knotting the game at 1-all with 13 minutes left in the second period.
A short time later, Radko Gudas sent a shot off the post _ the closest the Flyers would come to taking the lead.
Nearly 5 { minutes after Couturier's goal, Los Angeles regained the lead, at 2-1, as Adrian Kempe scored on a two-on-one after taking a feed from Brendan Leipsic.
Stolarz, who started for the first time in nine nights, could not be faulted for either of the first two goals.
With the Flyers on a power play late in the second, Couturier scored from out front, but it came a split second after the horn sounded. So the Kings took their 2-1 lead into the third period.
In the first period, the Flyers didn't have their legs, didn't have much accuracy with their passes, had 11 giveaways, and allowed 18 shots.
In other words, they were fortunate to face just a 1-0 deficit after the opening 20 minutes.
Stolarz, coming off a 38-save performance in a 1-0 win over the Rangers on Jan. 29, made 17 first-period saves to keep the Flyers close. Stolarz was extremely sharp (stopping Austin Wagner on a breakaway) and also fortunate (Kyle Clifford hit iron on another breakaway).
The Kings beat defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrew MacDonald as Wagner scored from the slot on a give-and-go, giving L.A. a 1-0 lead with 11:14 left in the first.
A little over two minutes into the game, Jonathan Quick denied Wayne Simmonds in front on one of the Flyers' best first-period chances. Scott Laughton, looking for his first goal in the last 23 games, had a great chance a few minutes later but couldn't control a bouncing puck with an empty net in front of him.
In their history, only six Flyers teams had a longer winning streak than eight games, topped by a 13-gamer early in the 1985-86 season.
