PHILADELPHIA — Cam York flicked a wrist shot from the point, chucked his stick into the stands and chased away years of bad hockey in Philadelphia.
York snapped the tension and a scoreless tie with the goal of the former first-round pick's career, burying the winner 17:32 into overtime that ignited a wild celebration and sent the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in six years with a 1-0 Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
The Flyers are set for a second-round showdown against Carolina.
“Just tried to put it there,” York said. “We knew that it was going to be a greasy one. It felt really good to see that one go in.”
Dan Vladar was again sensational in the net and stopped all 42 shots and prevented the Penguins from playing for a shot at playoff history.
Sidney Crosby and the Penguins tried to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0. They won two straight to force Game 6.
It is the Flyers who are moving on in coach Rick Tocchet's first season.
“It's been a long time,” Tocchet said. “I know there's been a lot of frustration.”
Arturs Silovs made 31 saves. Crosby skated over and consoled Silovs on the ice as the Flyers' theme song — Olivia Dean's “Man I Need” — blasted throughout the arena.
“We were a shot away from going back to Pittsburgh for Game 7,” Crosby said. "It comes down to bounces sometimes. Putting yourself in that position is tough. I think we all had a lot of belief we could dig ourselves out of it. It's just unfortunate we got behind early in the series.”
The last playoff game to head to overtime scoreless was Winnipeg and Edmonton in a 2021 first-round series. The Jets won 1-0 in the first OT.
The Flyers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they last reached the second round in the bubble season. They are in the second round in a full NHL season for the first time since 2012.
“So happy for the guys in that room,” York said. “We battled all year long for this position.”
Silovs, who allowed about four goals per game over his last 10 starts of the regular season, steadied the Penguins in place of the ineffective Stuart Skinner with wins in Games 4 and 5 and about played like a Vezina Trophy winner in Game 6.
Matvei Michkov, the Flyer's leading scorer after the Olympic break, was scratched in Game 5. He returned to the lineup determined to be a postseason difference-maker. He had a great chance in the second period on a breakaway but was stopped. The Flyers kept the puck in the offensive zone and Michkov swooped in and tried to poke the puck into the corner of the net, only for Silovs to again clamp down and deny the goal.
The Flyers, the last team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot, had 10 giveaways in the first period and made it six straight games in the series without a goal in the first period.
They can try to end that streak against a Hurricanes team that just swept the Ottawa Senators.
Kris Letang dropped Travis Konecny with a right hand as the second period ended and the long-time Penguin started the third in the penalty box. No matter. The Flyers came up empty with the man advantage — Michkov was wide on a one-timer — and they fell at that point to 2 for 17 on the power play in the series.
Vladar played like the team MVP he was in the regular season, willing the Flyers to the second round. Crosby early in the third flicked the puck from behind the net at Vladar. Perhaps auditioning for a spot in the World Cup, Vladar headed it like a soccer star over the back of the net and the game remained scoreless.
That was just one sign the night belonged to the Flyers.
“It's a lot right now,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “At no point am I expecting the season to end today.”
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