TAMPA, Fla. _ Travis Konecny put on an optimistic face early Thursday afternoon.
The Flyers' electric winger said Thursday night's opponent, the best-in-the-NHL Tampa Bay Lightning, would be a "great challenge," but he didn't understand why they were being treated as such an imposing team.
"They're a good team, but they've been beaten this year, too. Right?" Konecny said at the time. "We're not looking at them like they're this unstoppable, super team. We know we have a good team and we're building a consistent game here."
He was right. The Flyers weren't overmatched. Just like they did in last month's meeting with Tampa Bay, they staged a furious third-period rally.
But they again fell short. Again, they lost by a 6-5 score to Tampa Bay. Again, they lost in overtime.
Alex Killorn ripped a shot past a screened Michal Neuvirth 18 seconds into OT to give the Lightning the win. Claude Giroux was stripped of the puck in the neutral zone before Killorn's winner.
Trailing 5-2, the Flyers got goals from Dale Weise, Robert Hagg and Ivan Provorov in the first 8:38 of the third period to tie the game at a stunned Amalie Arena.
"I think if you would have told us after the second period that we would get a point, we would have taken it," Ivan Provorov said of his team's rally. "It shows we don't quit."
With 7:27 left in regulation, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy robbed Jake Voracek from point-blank range to keep the game tied. He also denied an all-alone Sean Couturier with a minute to go.
Last month, the Flyers scored four third-period goals to erase a 5-1 deficit to the Lightning, but lost in overtime, 6-5.
Tampa Bay, the Stanley Cup favorite, extended its point streak to 13 games (12-0-1).
Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov each had four points for the Lightning, which was 2 for 3 on the power play while the Flyers were 0 for 2 with the man advantage.
Giroux has made too-many-to-count highlight-reel moves in his superb career. He added another one to his impressive list as he tied the game at two with 15:24 left in the second period.
Swooping in on Ryan McDonagh, he went around the veteran defenseman with a slick backhand move, then switched to the forehand and put the puck past one of the NHL's premier goaltenders, Vasilevskiy, and drew gasps from the Tampa crowd.
With 7:37 left in the second, the Flyers were caught standing around. Stamkos made them pay and put the Bolts ahead, 3-2, scoring from the high slot when no one picked him up.
About 2 { minutes later, after Andrew MacDonald inadvertently flipped the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty, Stamkos made it 4-2 as he fired a left-circle one-timer past Neuvirth. It was Stamkos' 22nd goal and 14th in December _ the most he has scored in any month in his brilliant career.
The Lightning made it 5-2 with nine seconds left in the second as Kucherov's shot deflected off an all-alone Tyler Johnson in front of the net. Officially, it wasn't a power play, but in essence it was, because Tampa Bay had an extra man for about 40 seconds due to a delayed penalty.
Johnson's tally gave the Lightning three goals in a 7:28 span, wiping out the 2-2 tie that Giroux had created. The Flyers lost the services of Nolan Patrick (upper-body injury) late in the second.
Tampa Bay had the last 10 shots of the opening period as it erased a 1-0 deficit and took a 2-1 lead. Kucherov finished off a three-on-two by one-time a right-circle shot past Neuvirth, knotting the score at 1-1 with 6:04 left in the first.
With 48 seconds remaining in the first, Tampa Bay's relentless power play showed why it is ranked No. 1 in the NHL as it went ahead, 2-1, as Brayden Point scored on a rebound. When it wasn't making precision passes for high-quality shots Tampa was swarming the net and keeping Neuvirth scrambling.
The Flyers controlled the game's first 11 minutes and took a 1-0 lead when Travis Sanheim's point shot was deflected by both Scott Laughton and Michael Raffl. Rafll's deft tip went over Vasilevskiy's left shoulder to give the Flyers the lead with 9:10 to go in the first. It was the second goal in as many games for Raffl, who was goalless in his first 20 contests.
About two minutes before Raffl's goal, Wayne Simmonds was somehow denied of a power-play goal by Vasilevskiy. Simmonds' pointy blank shot rolled off the back of Vasilevskiy's right leg and stayed out of the net. A short time later, while the Flyers were still on the power play, Simmonds was on the doorstep and his shot went behind Vasilevskiy and through the crease but went wide.
Simmonds looked to the rafters in disbelief.
