PHILADELPHIA -- It was fan appreciation night in Philadelphia on Saturday. The Flyers gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about early.
And then the Thrashers spoiled the party.
Ron Hainsey scored with 3:43 left in overtime to cap a remarkable Thrashers comeback for a 5-4 victory Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Andrew Ladd scored with 44.6 seconds remaining to cap a four-goal third period as the Thrashers rallied in dramatic fashion. Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and Tobias Enstrom all scored in the third as the Thrashers erased one three-goal, one two-goal and three one-goal deficits.
Early on, while the Flyers handed out televisions, iPads, cameras and even a car, the Thrashers were giving away goals. The Flyers scored at even strength, while on the power play and even short-handed.
The Thrashers entered the game tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference with Toronto, six points behind the New York Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Rangers played at San Jose, ninth-place Carolina hosted Columbus and Toronto hosted seventh-place Buffalo on Saturday. Only 13 games remain, and two are against the Flyers, the top team in the East.
Despite pushing much of the action in the first period -- holding a 10-4 shots-on-goal advantage -- the Thrashers trailed after one period. The Flyers’ Ville Leino knocked a rebound into a wide-open net with 5:49 left on the team’s fourth shot.
The Flyers appeared to put the game away with two goals in the second period -- where they now have outscored their opponents 81-53 this season.
Forty-seven seconds into their own power play, the Thrashers allowed a short-handed goal to Kimmo Timonen, who beat goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to end a 2-on-1 break. The goal, 4:21 into the period, was the Flyers’ NHL-leading 12th short-handed goal. The Thrashers have allowed eight goals while on the power play.
The Flyers added a power-play goal with 5:38 left in the period. Leino dove to poke a loose puck into the net that slid under Pavelec’s pads after an initial save.
Kane got the Thrashers on the scoreboard with his 18th goal of the season, an unassisted tally 1:09 into the third period. The Thrashers finally beat Sergei Bobrovsky and still have been shut out only once this season (Nov. 4 vs. Columbus). Bogosian pulled the Thrashers to within a goal when his screened point shot found the net with 7:45 remaining.
However, 38 seconds later defenseman Mark Stuart was penalized for playing with a broken stick. A mere 39 seconds after that, Leino blasted a point shot past Chris Mason, who relieved Pavelec to start the third period. Enstrom's power-play goal with 2:59 left pulled the Thrashers to within one again before Ladd tied the score with the Thrashers goal empty.
Etc.
Nik Antropov was awarded the Thrashers’ second goal, originally credited to Dustin Byfuglien, Friday night against New Jersey. Byfuglien and Enstrom get assists.
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