Noah Cates scored his first goal of the season in the third period, and the Philadelphia Flyers continued their surprising start to the season by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The squad led by veteran coach John Tortorella is undefeated after three games, having come back from a two-goal deficit for the second time in a row at Amalie Arena.
During the entire 2021-2022 season, the Flyers had not made the slightest victorious comeback of its kind.
As was the case Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks, Philly was down 2-0 when it came time to step on the gas.
Captain Steven Stamkos had allowed the Lightning to secure a two-goal cushion. The No. 91 scored in a fourth straight game to start the year; he now has six goals to his name, putting him atop the scoring column.
In power play goals, Stamkos finished 25th in all-time ahead of Jeremy Roenick with 185.
Except that Scott Laughton, midway through the middle period, as well as James van Riemsyk, on the massive attack early in the third, allowed the visitors to tie the game against the Stanley Cup winners in 2020 and 2021.
Cates then created a turnover right in the middle of the Lightning crease, and quickly turned around with a shot to the top of the net that gave Andrei Vasilevskiy no chance.
In the other cage, Carter Hart frustrated the Tampa heavyweights multiple times, totaling 37 saves.
Jon Cooper’s squad, finalists in the East last June after their two consecutive championships, are definitely in trouble this young season, as evidenced by their 1-3-0 record.
The ten previous meetings between the two clubs had been won by Tampa, four of which came in extra time.
Another botched Canucks lead
Another game, another loss and another lead squandered by the Vancouver Canucks, who lost 4-3 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
For the fourth time in as many games this season, the Canucks squandered a lead of at least two goals. They had squandered a 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers, 2-0 over the Philadelphia Flyers and 4-2 over the Washington Capitals.
In the evening, Vancouver took a 2-0 lead against the Blue Jackets thanks to goals from Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson. Justin Danforth and Zach Werenski brought both teams back to square one.
Horvat put the Canucks ahead in the third period, but Johnny Gaudreau found the back of the net for the second time this season.
The Jackets put pressure on Spencer Martin’s net in overtime. They got three players against the goaltender at one point, but Werenski missed his shot. Moments later, Yegor Chinakhov delivered a fine pass to Vladislav Gravrikov who rattled the ropes for the win.
Sharks still winless
The San Jose Sharks are still looking for their first win this season following a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
San Jose begins its campaign with five straight losses.
Evgeny Svechnikov tied the game 2-2 in the middle period, but with 54 seconds to go, Oliver Wahlstrom found the back of the net. The latter returned to the charge early in the third period and Cal Clutterbuck struck the final blow with less than three minutes to go.
James Reimer still repelled 40 pucks in front of the Sharks cage. Semyon Varlamaov only had to make 26 saves in the win.
The Ducks are not holding up
The New Jersey Devils rallied from a two-goal deficit to win 4-2 over the Anaheim Ducks.
After watching Jakob Silfverberg score his first two goals of the season for the Ducks in the first half, the Devils took control of the game starting in the middle period.
The Devils hit the target twice in the second period to tie the game. Ondrej Palat first put the Devils on the board with his first goal of the season before seeing Nico Hischier level the odds.
In the third, Dougie Hamilton scored the winning goal in the 33rd second.
Dawson Mercer added the insurance goal at 12:49
Ducks goaltender Anthony Stolarz gave up four times on 41 shots while Anthony Stolarz was beaten twice on 20 shots.
The Ducks – after winning their home opener against Seattle – were coming off two losses to begin a five-game trip, 7-1 to the Islanders on Saturday and 6-4 to the Rangers on Monday.
Devils coach Lindy Ruff – in his third season behind the New Jersey bench – notched his 783rd career win to move into fifth place ahead of Al Arbor at 782. Ruff, 62, led the Buffalo Sabers for 15 seasons and the Dallas Stars for four years.
