Brayden Schenn was exhausted. It was the end of his shift. It was overtime. He’d already played more than 16 minutes.
But then he caught a break.
Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin had attempted to pull a move on him and turned the puck over in the process. Schenn suddenly had possession, and nothing stood between him and goalie Jonathan Quick except open ice.
He knew what he had to do.
“I was just trying, from blue line to blue line, to bury my head and get my feet moving as fast as possible,” Schenn said. “I’m sure [Muzzin] was tired too, end of a shift.”
Schenn charged in on Quick, shot hard and watched the Kings goalie -- and the puck -- slide into the net and over the goal line. The Flyers won, 3-2 (see Instant Replay).
At least, that’s what he thought at first. But then the referee waved it off. Had he won the game for the Flyers against his former team or not?
“I wasn’t sure,” Schenn said. “I couldn’t even see the puck. I had just as good an idea as [the referee] did if it was in or not. Simmer (Wayne Simmonds) I think pushed Quick in a little bit more to give it a little bit more insurance. I think the fresh ice maybe helped Quick slide into the net.”
Quick and teammate Mike Richards argued that the goaltender had been forced back into the net by Simmonds, as the refs huddled together as video of the play was reviewed at NHL headquarters in Toronto.
And eventually, the goal was ruled good. Schenn’s third marker of the season had helped the Flyers put an end to the Kings’ six-game winning streak -- and it had a bit more meaning for the 23-year-old forward than a typical marker.
"It’s always nice scoring goals, and I guess it makes it a little extra special being drafted by L.A., obviously didn’t spend a whole lot of time there," Schenn said. "With an OT goal, it’s a big win for our team. Obviously got to keep this going. We haven’t had an easy schedule here to start the year. It’s another big two points to us."
There had been plenty of confusion on the Flyers’ bench at the time of the goal, 2:26 into overtime. Claude Giroux said he was happy at first to see his teammate score, then totally uncertain whether the goal should have counted. Michael Raffl said the team was “relieved,” but only after they knew for certain that the goal was good.
It was Simmonds, also a former King, who knew it would count all along. On the ice at the time of the goal and trailing the play, he saw the puck cross the line and knew that he wasn’t the reason Quick slid into the back of the net, even though he did admit to making a bit of contact with the goalie after the fact.
“It’s a good way to end it, with me and Brayden both on the ice at the same time,” Simmonds said. “I was just real excited. I think we looked like little schoolgirls jumping up and down.”
The Flyers now lay claim to a three-game winning streak and a record above .500 for the first time this season. Schenn owns a two-game scoring streak of his own, and has three goals in his last five games.
But as good as he felt scoring the big goal, Schenn emphasized the importance of the game as a whole -- which was one of the Flyers' best efforts of the season.
“Game-winners are always nice,” he said. “It makes it a little extra special being against a team that drafted you. It’s obviously a huge win for our team, and we’ve got to keep moving forward.”