Shea Theodore netted the game-winner with 31 seconds remaining in regulation.
On the night the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 7 of the NLCS, the Philadelphia Flyers were unable to raise Philly sports fans' spirits in the final game of the NHL Frozen Frenzy.
The Flyers fell to the mighty Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena late Tuesday night — or Wednesday morning, depending on where you live. Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore netted the game-winner with 31.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
With the win, Vegas is now 7-0-0 — the best start to a season by a defending Stanley Cup champion in NHL history.
The Flyers held a 2-1 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the game, but Vegas forward Paul Cotter pulled off a gorgeous between-the-legs move to get around young Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula and beat goaltender Carter Hart for the equalizer.
Despite giving up a pair of goals in the third period, Hart was splendid for much of the night — particularly in the middle frame. One of his best saves came soon after the game's midway point when Jack Eichel raced into the Flyers zone and fired a laser on net, only for Hart to stop it with a left pad save, followed by desperation glove save to spoil Eichel's follow-up attempt on the rebound.
Overall, Hart stopped 26 of 29 Vegas shots.
Eichel was dangerous throughout the contest and played an integral role on the game's first marker, creating a juicy rebound off a nice Jonathan Marchessault feed from below the goal line that Ivan Barbashev backhanded through Carter Hart's five-hole.
Noah Cates knotted the game up at one goal apiece at the first period's 13:07 mark, though his intention was to set up Joel Farabee for the marker. Cates saucered a pass to the driving Farabee at the goalmouth, which was redirected straight into Logan Thompson's pads. Luckily, Cates swept in just in time to clean up the rebound.
Defenseman Travis Sanheim got the play started with a nice stretch pass from the defensive zone to spark the rush.
Veteran forward Cam Atkinson also got in on the action, scoring his third goal in as many games with a harmless backhander from the faceoff circle that went in off of Logan Thompson's blocker. Had Thompson not even bothered to redirect the puck, Atkinson's shot would have fluttered well wide of the net. It was an incredibly fluky play, but you certainly won't see Atkinson complaining about it.
The Flyers' power play remains a legitimate concern. For the fourth game in a row, the Flyers failed to score a power-play goal, giving them a conversion percentage of just 5%. They have scored on the man advantage just once in 20 tries to start the season.
The penalty kill, meanwhile, continues to thrive. The Flyers' PK shut down each of Vegas' opportunities on the man advantage, giving them a success percentage of 85%. They've only allowed three power-play goals in six games — all three of which came against the Ottawa Senators in their second game of the campaign.
The Flyers will return to Broad Street to kick off a four-game homestand Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild. Mercifully, the puck will drop at the reasonable time of 7:30 p.m. ET.