More shots don't translate into win for Flyers against Phoenix

Peter Laviolette had a bad feeling.

Entering the third period with a scant, 1-0 lead against the hungry Phoenix Coyotes, the Flyers' gut-trusting coach had an inkling it might not last.

He was right.

In the Flyers' four games prior to last night, they were outshot 50-24 in the third period and outscored, 4-3. Last night, though, was different. Despite being outscored, 2-1, by the Coyotes in the third frame, the Flyers outshot Phoenix, 15-7.

For the Flyers, outshooting the opponent by a large margin hasn't exactly been a recipe for success. More rubber doesn't always mean more goals.

For the 13th time this season, the Flyers posted 38 or more shots in a game. Their record in those contests? Just 6-5-2.

"I just had a nervous feeling," Laviolette said. "I thought the game should have been 4-0 at that point and it wasn't, it was 1-0. There were lots of looks and opportunities. They seemed like they were doubled up in our favor and we couldn't break the one."

Despite the Flyers hitting the post "five or six times," by Laviolette's count, Phoenix - which is second in the league with six comeback wins this season when trailing during the second intermission - struck twice in the first 11 minutes of the third.

And if it wasn't for Claude Giroux's never-say-die effort with just 1:13 to play, the Flyers would have skated off the Wells Fargo Center ice empty-handed. Instead, Giroux converted to knot the contest, but Shane Doan won it in overtime for Phoenix, 3-2, just 65 seconds after Kimmo Timonen was whistled for a questionable hooking penalty.

"We had to fight back," Laviolette said. "You look at it and you think you should win the game outright, yet at the end of the day, you're lucky to get a point.

"You feel like you earned two and you're lucky to get one."

It was the Coyotes' eighth win in a row, as the Flyers' struggles against the Western Conference continue this season. The Flyers are just 7-5-4 against the West this season, compared to 32-10-2 against the East.

Laviolette wasn't particularly thrilled with the penalty call on Timonen in overtime - and it didn't help that Andrej Meszaros lost his stick on the ensuing penalty kill, leaving Doan wide open on the back door.

In New York on Sunday, the Flyers went all 60 minutes without being whistled for a penalty.

"I didn't like that one and a lot of others," Laviolette said of the call. "There is a lot of stick work that goes on. We are preaching discipline, and all we talk about is staying out of the box. We'll kill the ones we have to, but with points on the line - and things really valuable this time of year - I did not like the call."

Timonen said he wasn't ready to pass judgment about the call, but was also quick to say it didn't matter.

"If you lose the game, you lose the game," Timonen said.

The Flyers certainly didn't lose the game defensively, where for the most part they kept Phoenix's well-oiled offense on the periphery. Taylor Pyatt's lead-changing goal in the third period came from a benign spot above the faceoff circle to the right of Sergei Bobrovsky.

Pyatt's seemingly routine shot bounced off Bobrovsky, over his head and into the net.

"Goals like that, I guess it happens sometimes," Giroux said. "I think it was his first this season. He had huge saves for us and kept us in the game. He was one of the reasons we got to overtime, first of all, so it was all good."

"I think we've played pretty tight defense the last few games," Timonen said. "That's the way you're going to win games down the road. It felt like [last night], we skated for 40 minutes and we weren't really there. As long as we can skate all 60 minutes, we are going to win a lot of games."

With the overtime loss, the Flyers collected a single point and failed to increase their season-high lead on the Eastern Conference over idle Pittsburgh to eight points.

"I think we dominated a good part of this game," Giroux said. "Offensively, we had a lot of good chances. Defensively, we were pretty responsible. I think that one point was pretty huge."

Bad feeling or not, Laviolette couldn't walk away upset with his team.

"Certainly not the amount of distance [with Pittsburgh] we would like," Laviolette said. "But I'm always concerned with how we play the game and how we attack. I'm not disappointed with that."

Jody Shelley received approximately 60 stitches after his second-period fight with Nolan Yonkman - and he was on the winning end of the fight. Shelley did not return to the game . . . Last night, for one of the few times this season, Peter Laviolette decided to break up Danny Briere's usual line with Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell, replacing Hartnell with Andreas Nodl. "I think we're just trying to keep things fresh around here, with different looks and different feels," Laviolette said . . . Claude Giroux scored for the second consecutive game after breaking an eight-game drought on Sunday . . . The Flyers are now 21-1-1 when leading after the first period.