Flyers fall to Kraken in OT, are on awfully close pace to 2019-20 team

Flyers fall to Kraken in OT, are on awfully close pace to 2019-20 team originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers relinquished a 1-0 third-period lead Friday night en route to suffering a 2-1 overtime loss to the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back set with travel, the Flyers appeared to run out of gas as Seattle made an ardent push.

Carter Hart converted three saves in overtime before the Kraken got him for the winner. Justin Schultz snuck behind the Flyers and finished off a pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Considering the circumstances, the Flyers (19-11-5) will absolutely take the point. They’ve been able to consistently grab points, doing so in 12 of their last 13 games (8-1-4) and 18 of their last 22 (14-4-4).

Friday night marked the ninth time they had gone to OT in their last 15 games. They’ve been competitive and lived on the edge quite a bit, going 7-4-5 in games decided by one goal this season. Last season, they were 13-8-13.

John Tortorella recorded his 1,500th career game as an NHL head coach. He became the first U.S.-born coach to hit the milestone and only the eighth coach in NHL history to reach it.

In Year 2 with the Flyers, Tortorella has his rebuilding team holding a playoff spot through 35 games. Close to 23 years ago, he got his full-time start in Tampa Bay, where he built the Lightning into a Stanley Cup champion.

Seattle is on a season-best run of four straight wins and eight consecutive games of earning a point (6-0-2).

The Flyers and Kraken (14-14-9) wrap up their two-game regular-season series Feb. 10 in Philadelphia.

• In 2019-20, the last time the Flyers made the playoffs, they were 19-11-5 through 35 games. They had scored 108 goals and given up 96.

This season, in 35 games, the Flyers are 19-11-5, have scored 103 goals and given up 94.

Eerily similar.

Last season, the Flyers were 11-17-7 through 35 games. So they’ve made considerable strides this season and have been highly competitive on…