Shayne Gostisbehere is Flyers' OT hero again

PHILADELPHIA — Two home games in a row now, Shayne Gostisbehere has fired a slapshot in overtime to give the Flyers a win, this time a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

According to NHL public relations, Gostisbehere is the first rookie in Flyers history to have multiple game winners in the same season, let alone the same week.

“It’s a pretty fun ride right now and I have no plans of getting off it,” Gostisbehere, 22, said. “I haven’t had that many OT winners in my life. It’s a surreal moment but we’re going to keep going and look toward New York.”

Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who drew up the play on the white board during a timeout just before the goal, remembers what the pressure was like. He came into the league being expected to be the savior just like what Gostisbehere is to the Flyers’ future.

“Well, I had a lot of support,” Giroux said. “I had (Simon) Gagne, (Danny) Briere, (Scott) Hartnell, (Mike Richards), (Jeff Carter). That’s a lot of players. I was on the third line and kind of doing my thing. He gets put on the power play and he’s logging a lot of minutes. I think he’s doing a good job of staying focused, enjoying the game.”

Sure seems like it. Gostisbehere was recalled after Mark Streit had surgery for a “detached pubic plate,” a painful injury that will keep him out another month.

Since then, Gostisbehere has taken a big piece of the pie for the Flyers. He’s quarterbacking the first power-play unit, just like Streit usually does, and is averaging 18:27 of ice time. He has five points in seven games and is learning on the fly, just like the struggling Flyers.

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Last year, general manager Ron Hextall didn’t think he was ready. He begrudgingly called him up to average 12:34 of ice time in two games before promptly sending him back to the American Hockey League.

This year, he appears to be ready even though the Flyers aren’t. One thing Gostisbehere and the team as a whole have learned a lot of recently is what it’s like to play from behind.

After a great first shift of the game, the Flyers found themselves in their own zone and down 1-0 less than two minutes into the game after Filip Forsberg scored his third of the season on a behind-the-net pass from Mike Ribeiro.

Michael Del Zotto quickly got it back, scoring at the 4-minute mark on the first goal off the rush the Flyers have had in recent memory.

A sloppy game for both the Flyers and ex-coach Peter Laviolette’s Predators, the Flyers took the lead early in the third period on a goal by call-up Colin McDonald, who crashed the net.

In true Laviolette fashion, he called timeout with 1:06 left and goalie Pekka Rinne pulled. The Preds scored with 20 seconds left to tie the game. Mike Fisher got the second rebound after Michal Neuvirth made one of his 33 saves on the day.

New Flyers coach Dave Hakstol’s timeout worked, too. Gostisbehere potted his third goal of the season after the timeou.

“If you really watch the game, you see that positioning-wise he’s in great position,” Giroux said. “Those kind of defensemen are tough to play against because they’re always on you and they’re always in your face. I think he’s really getting more comfortable and doing plays.”

The only problem is that Gostisbehere (it’s really pronounced Gaws-tis-bear) is only here because Streit is on long-term injured reserve. When the veteran is healthy, the Flyers won’t have the extra $5.25 million available.

Gostisbehere has a salary-cap hit of $925,000 and, when Streit is healthy the Flyers will only have a little under $70,000 of salary-cap space.

“I don’t think about that,” Gostisbehere said. “I take it day-by-day, shift-by-shift. I just try to focus out there on both sides of the puck and being a good, two-way defenseman.”

Despite being undersized at 160 pounds and under 6-feet, Gostisbehere has done well, especially offensively. In his seven games, he’s already tied for second-most points among defensemen with five (Streit has nine in 16 games).

“I think like any young player he’s got things to learn,” Hakstol said. “His overall decision making has been pretty good and those are things he has to continue to work at, continue to study, and continue to improve on as a young defenseman.”

The question is: can he do it at this level, especially after Streit is healthy?

“I’m not gonna be worried about the salary cap,” Giroux said. “I’m gonna let Hexy do that. I’m not gonna get a headache for that.”

Dave Isaac; (856) 486-2479;disaac@gannettnj.com. 

FLYERS 3, PREDATORS 2 (OT)

Up next: at N.Y. Rangers

When: 1:30 p.m., Saturday

TV/Radio: CSN/97.5