Kraken edged out in 3-2 loss

PHILADELPHIA – Cal Petersen made 17 saves on Saturday night to help the Flyers to a 3-2 win over the visiting Seattle Kraken.

Goalie Cal Petersen #40 of the Philadelphia Flyers blocks the shot with his glove hand.

“The guys made it easy for me, very simple,” Petersen said. “Not a lot of odd-man rushes, if any. Just had to make the saves I needed to make, and the guys did a great job. So, a lot of credit goes to them.”

The Flyers improved to 28-19-6.

“It’s been a challenging couple of years, but I think it’s made me a lot stronger,” Petersen said. “I’ve got a lot more of a passion and commitment to my craft. And I think that’s just enjoying every opportunity that I get, enjoying the people around me, enjoying getting better every day.”

Scott Laughton staked the Flyers to a 1-0 lead at 4:36 of the opening stanza.

Seattle’s Tomas Tatar scored at 17:09 to tie the game, 1-1.

The Flyers took a 2-1 lead on a shorthanded goal by Ryan Poehling at 18:14 of the first.

Seattle dropped to 21-20-10.

“There were more plays to be completed, to be had, especially in the first half of the hockey game,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Little bit off in execution, and that changes the number of opportunities we were able to gain. Their team, they skate, they pressure, they stay on top, we know that. If you can make one extra play, you get opportunities. We got some of those, but not enough, and we didn’t have enough of those clean opportunities in this game.”

Seattle’s Jared McCann tied it 2-2 with 36 seconds gone in the third period.

Sean Couturier reclaimed the lead, 3-2, for the Flyers at 5:30.

“It’s just a simple play. Try to win it and get pucks to the net and go to the net,” Couturier said. “I got the bounce there, so it was good. Big goal.”

It was Couturier’s first goal in 12 games.

“I respect ‘Coots,’ but I needed more out of him,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “I was waiting most of the night for that to get going. He probably doesn’t need to hear it, but he probably will again if it happens that way. He’s a pro. He knows when things are going well and when he needs to do more. But it was frustrating for me because we needed him, and he ends up scoring a goal on the next shift. And he played some key minutes after that.

“He is a huge part of this team if we’re going to win, and he’s not allowed to have a bad night or take a night off. He’s not allowed. We’re not good enough for him to be average.”

Joey Daccord made 35 saves in the loss.

Goalie Cal Petersen #40 of the Philadelphia Flyers

Rasmus Ristolainen #55 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Andre Burakovsky #95 of the Seattle Kraken

Travis Konecny #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers makes a pass to a teammate.

Jamie Drysdale #9 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Andre Burakovsky #95 of the Seattle Kraken

Cal Petersen #40 of the Philadelphia Flyers is scored on in the first period.

Tomas Tatar #90 of the Seattle Kraken is congratulated by his teammates for his goal in the first period.

Ryan Poehling #25 of the Philadelphia Flyers concentrates on the puck held by Linesmen Ryan Galloway #82 during the face-off against Alex Wennberg #21 of the Seattle Kraken

Ryan Poehling #25 of the Philadelphia Flyers congratulated for his goal in the first period

Cam York #8 of the Philadelphia Flyers defends his position as Jaden Schwartz #17 of the Seattle Kraken try to get in front of Flyers goalie Cal Petersen #40

Ryan Poehling #25 of the Philadelphia Flyers battles Jamie Oleksiak #24 of the Seattle Kraken in front of Kraken goalie
Joey Daccord #35

Jamie Oleksiak #24 of the Seattle Kraken prepares to block a shot by Philadelphia Flyer Jamie Drysdale #9 as Joel Farabee #86 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks to tip the puck past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord #35

Goalie Cal Petersen #40 of the Philadelphia Flyers blocks the shot with his glove hand.