Cam York buried the winner with 17:32 left in overtime and threw his bat into the crowd amid wild celebrations, and the Philadelphia Flyers advanced to the second round for the first time in six years with a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 on Wednesday night.
The Flyers will face Carolina in the second round.
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“Just trying to put it out there,” York said. “We knew it was going to be a greasy game. It felt really good to see it go in.”
Dan Vladar once again rocked the net, stopping all 42 shots to prevent the Penguins from setting a playoff record.
Sidney Crosby and the Penguins are trying to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0. They won two games in a row to force a sixth game.
The Flyers continue to move forward in coach Rick Tocchet’s first season.
Artus Silovs made 31 saves.
The last playoff game to go scoreless into overtime was the 2021 first-round series between Winnipeg and Edmonton. The Jets won the first overtime period 1-0.
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The Flyers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and last reached the second round in the bubble season. They are playing a series at home for the first time since 2018.
“Just happy for the people in that room,” York said. “We’ve been fighting for this position all year.”
Silovs, who averaged four goals per game in his final 10 starts during the regular season, won games 4 and 5, replaced the ineffective Stuart Skinner, stabilized the Penguins and looked like a Vezina Trophy winner in Game 6.
Matvei Michkov, the Flyers’ leading scorer after the Olympic break, was injured in Game 5. He returns to the lineup determined to be a key player in the playoffs. He had a good chance to break through, but was blocked. The Flyers kept the puck in the offensive zone and Michkov swooped in and tried to put the puck into the corner of the net, but Silovs again overpowered it and blocked it.
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The Flyers, the last team in the Eastern Conference to secure a playoff spot, surrendered 10 points in the first quarter and went six straight games without scoring in the first quarter of the series.
They can try to end their record against a Hurricanes team that just swept the Ottawa Senators.
At the end of the second period, Kris Letang knocked down Travis Konecny ​​with a right hand, and the long-time Penguins player started the third period in the paint. in spite of. The Flyers had nothing on their man advantage — Michkov missed a shot on a shot clock — and were 2-for-17 on the power play in the series.
Vladar performed like the team MVP he was during the regular season, leading the Flyers into the second round. Early in the third period, Crosby bounced the puck toward Vladar from behind the net. Perhaps trying to audition for the World Cup team in Philadelphia, Vladar headed the ball into the net like a soccer star, but the game remained scoreless.
