Cam York's OT winner eliminates the Penguins, as Flyers advance to second round for the first time since 2020
PHILADELPHIA - They say the third time's the charm.
After striking out in their first two attempts to close the door on their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers finally came through with a harrowing 1-0 overtime win in Game 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
With two minutes, 28 seconds left in the extra session, Cam York sent a snap shot past Artūrs Šilovs, and the crowd erupted. York, who has had an up-and-down start to his career in Philly, threw his stick into the crowd in celebration as the bench emptied, the management suite jumped up and down, and the coaches hugged.
Monday night was the second time the Penguins forced a Game 6 when trailing three to nothing in a best-of-seven series. And like the 2012 conference quarterfinals, the Flyers beat the Penguins
The Flyers will now face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The first five minutes of overtime hinted that the Flyers were ready to end the game quickly, but they couldn't find the back of the net. The ice then tilted in the Penguins' favor with Dan Vladař making several key saves, Nick Seeler laying his body on the line to block a shot, and Rasmus Ristolainen stretching out his body to knock the puck out of the Flyers' zone.
And that came after both teams failed to score across the scheduled 60 minutes, but not for a lack of trying.
Aside from the usual scrums and questionable calls by the referees, the new lines Flyers coach Rick Tocchet deployed had some pep in their step to start, with the Flyers putting 11 shots on goal in the first period before adding another 15 in the next two; 11 of which were high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. Pittsburgh had 32 shots in regulation, with 13 in the final period, including six from high-danger spots.
The Flyers' new lines had Owen Tippett with Trevor Zegras and Porter Martone; Denver Barkey with Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny, who was back on the right wing; Alex Bump stayed with Noah Cates and was joined by Matvei Michkov, who was a healthy scratch in Game 5, on the right; and Tyson Foerster was shifted to the fourth line with Sean Couturier and Luke Glendening.
Tippett had the best chance for the Flyers in the opening frame, when, on a broken play in the neutral zone, he got the puck and picked up speed. The fleet-of-foot forward went around Penguins blueliner Ilya Solovyov, and cut across the crease before being stopped by the left toe of Šilovs.
But the Flyers also had a Ristolainen shot handcuff the goalie with 14:14 to go, and the captain, Couturier, who had a smart, savvy game, had a turnaround rebound chance in front after a point shot by Noah Juulsen, who returned to the lineup after sitting on Monday.
Early in the second period, it was Barkey making a heads-up play to York for a chance down the middle, and then his own chance was blocked by Kris Letang right after. Dvorak and Travis Sanheim also combined for a chance by the forward on a penalty kill, before Egor Chinakhov came close for Pittsburgh by hitting the pipe.
Michkov had two stellar chances to open the scoring in the second and another in the third. The first was when he got behind the defense, but was robbed by Šilovs on the breakaway. Later in the shift, he tried to stuff the puck at the right post after a Bump shot on goal but could not sneak it across. In the final period, he skated in on the left side, trying to score against the grain, but Šilovs made the glove save.
And if it wasn't for the play of Vladař, especially when the veteran Penguins turned it up in the third period and overtime, the Flyers would never have had a chance.
In the first period, he stoned Erik Karlsson after the Penguins defenseman carried the puck down the right boards and behind the net before coming out in front. Then, he made a play that said he was on his game when, during a two-on-one with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby bearing down and just Jamie Drysdale back, the Flyers' goalie stopped Malkin's shot and pushed the rebound out past Crosby as he crashed down the left side.
As the period ticked down and the Penguins pressed, he made a big-time save on Connor Dewar from 10 feet out, and then another on a Rickard Rakell backhand shot from 14 feet away.
And in the third period, when the veteran opponents turned it up, he played his best, making an outstanding pad save as Bryan Rust had a shot on goal from in tight and then tried to jam home the rebound. He finished with 42 saves for his second shutout of the series.
Breakaways
Forward Garnet Hathaway and defenseman Emil Andrae were healthy scratches. Hathaway played in the first five games of the series, while Andrae came out after returning in Game 5 from an upper-body injury.
Up next
The Flyers will head to Carolina in the near future for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference second round against the Hurricanes.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 8:40 PM.