Dave Hakstol seethes over disallowed goal in 5-4 Flyers loss to Senators

OTTAWA, Ontario  — These video reviews are starting to crack the icy veneer of Flyers coach Dave Hakstol.

After surrendering three first-period goals against Ottawa on Thursday amid what the coach admitted was "jittery play,'' the Flyers fought back to within a goal twice over the next two periods and appeared to have tied the score at 5 on Sean Couturier's wraparound during a frantic final minute.

Couturier pushed the puck as Senators goaltender Craig Anderson clamped his glove over it on the goal line, and the on-ice officials immediately headed to the side for a video review. The NHL's Situation Room initiated the review, but the referee told the Situation Room he was in the process of blowing his whistle when he lost sight of the puck under Anderson's skate.

Under NHL rules, the play was not reviewable.

Hakstol, emerging from the video room shortly after his team lost, 5-4, to the Senators, had no patience for such obscurity.  "I watched the puck go over the line,'' he said. "And it's 100 percent. I don't know how that's missed. That bothers me because our guys fought their rear ends off to get back in this thing and to tie this thing. We tied it up. It's there — I just watched it on our own video and it's clear as day.''

It was the second ruling of the night that went against his team, Brandon Manning's earlier blast from the point was waved off after it was deemed Jordan Weal interfered with Anderson. Hakstol didn't agree with that one, either, but he said, "Those are judgment calls.''

Still Hakstol was proud of a spirited if often sloppy effort mounted by his team after falling behind 3-0 via the same type of harrowing turnovers that plagued Tuesday's 6-2 loss to Anaheim. After Ottawa's Dion Phaneuf scored with a harmless flip from the blue line that looked as much an attempt to keep the puck in the zone as it did a scoring threat, the Senators pushed it to 2-0 at 9:50 after Claude Giroux and Robert Hagg flubbed a chip along the boards that ultimately left Ottawa's Mark Borowiecki unattended in front.

The Senators made it 3-0 after another awful decision by Travis Konecny, who is, from shift to shift, a living breathing plus-minus. Later Konecny would score to pull the Flyers to within 3-2 in the second period, underlining his coach's faint praise before the game. "He puts a lot of value on the offensive side of the game,'' said Hakstol. "I like that hunger. But at the same time he's a young player who is still learning and growing with the detail that's needed on a nightly basis in this league.''

Konecny's goal was the second in less than a minute late in the second period and despite a late Ottawa goal that period, set the table for a furious third-period effort. Pinching, aggressively forechecking, crowding the net  —  they found their game, or at least the game that fueled their promising start to the season. Had Michael Neuvirth played like he had in his first three games, it would have been enough, too.

Like Tuesday, things got chippy in that period. Radko Gudas was ejected for a hit on Chris Wideman. Even Jake Voracek got into the act, taking some extra pops at Chris Wideman as he lingered too long in the crease after a stoppage. This time, though, it triggered a furious comeback as Ivan Provorov's goal at 15:18  and Sean Couturier's at 18:14 pulled the Flyers to within 5-4.

And even before the video review spelled their final doom, Valterri Filppula had a couple of chances to tie it near the left post. "We dug ourselves a hole, but the big thing is we dug out of that hole,'' said the normally stoic Hakstol.

"It's frustrating.''