Flyers Win, Lose and Tie — All on One Night

Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) skates during a stop in play against the New York Islanders during the first period at PPL Center.

Last night the Flyers pulled off a pretty unique feat: They won, lost and tied.

NHL preseason games began on Sunday, and on Monday the Flyers played a split-squad game against the Islanders. The Flyers’ better players beat the Islanders’ B-team in Allentown’s PPL Center (where the Phantoms play).

The Isles’ better players beat the Flyers, 3-2, in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Then, in Brooklyn, the Flyers and Islanders played a practice overtime session even though the game did not end in a tie.

The NHL has moved to a 3-on-3 overtime session this year, and so each team is being given three chances this preseason to practice it, even when games don’t end in ties. The idea behind the move is to allow more games to finish with a goal, rather than go to a shootout. (Penalties in overtime will result in 4-on-3 or 5-on-3 advantages, not 3-on-2.) The Flyers were second-worst in the league last year in shootouts, going 3-11.

Despite the 3-on-3 format, no team scored in the extra period in Brooklyn. Had this been a real overtime, the Flyers would have gone to a shootout anyway!

The Flyers have changed things a bit since last year’s team that missed the playoffs by 14 points. They brought in a new coach, Dave Hakstol, who previously coached for 11 years at North Dakota. Rookie Travis Konecny, taken in the first round of this year’s draft, scored in the second period of the Flyers’ win in Allentown.

The first home preseason game for the Flyers is tonight against the Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center.

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