Postgame 5: Carolina Defeats Flyers, 4-1

The Philadelphia Flyers were defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes. 4-1, at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday evening. The Hurricanes scored the lone goal of the first period. The sides traded off a goal apiece in the second stanza. Carolina pulled away in the latter portion of the third period.

The Flyers(11-10-1) dropped to 0-10-1 in games where they yield the first goal.

Carolina took a 1-0 lead at 5:38 of the first period as Michael Bunting (5th goal of the season) scored from the middle slot on a second effort. The assists went to Sebastian Aho and Dmitry Orlov.

The Flyers drew even at 7:14 of the second period. A lead pass by Tyson Foerster found Travis Konecny (12th goal of the season) for a breakaway. Konecny snapped a shot that found the net low to the glove side. Foerster earned the lone assist.

Carolina took a 2-1 lead at 13:25. Laughton attempted to clear the puck near the Philadelphia net. The puck hit Brendan Lemieux (2nd goal of the season) and the ex-Flyer put it into the net. The goal was unassisted.

The Hurrcanes got an insurance goal at 16:34 on a shot by Seth Jarvis (9th) that went off Hart's glove and went into the net. The assists went to Bunting and Aho.

With the Flyers on 6-on-5, the Hurricanes came up with the puck on the side boards in the Philadelphia zone and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (8th) put it into the empty net. Jesper Fast earned the lone assist.

Carter Hart took the loss. He stopped 31 of 34 shots. Pyotr Kochetkov earned the win with 27 saves on 28 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play. The Hurricanes were also 0-for-2.

With the news that Noah Cates will miss six to eight weeks with a lower-body injury, the Flyers made one lineup change from Saturday's game in Elmont (apart from Hart returning to the net).  Bobby Brink re-entered the Philadelphia lineup.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
86 Joel Farabee - 26 Ryan Poehling - 10 Bobby Brink
44 Nick Deslauriers - 21 Scott Laughton - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker
18 Marc Staal - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]

TURNING POINT

Laughton's giveaway on an attempted clearing pass that found Lemieux's stick proved very costly. The Flyers never drew even again.

POSTGAME 5 

1)  The Flyers went on the game's first power play 53 seconds into the opening period. Philly generated some offensive zone time but no shots on goal. Carolina had the game's lone shot on goal through four minutes.

Shots were 5-0 and the score 1-0 Carolina when Atkinson put a sharp angle backhander on net at 6:04 for Philly's first shot on goal.

Near the eight-minute mark of the first period, York broke up a developing 2-on-1 for the Hurricanes. Shots were 7-3 Carolina through 11:23.

The Couturier line generated some extended forechecking pressure as time ticked below eight minutes left in the first period. Good work by defensemen Sanheim and York highlighted the shift.

An offensive faceoff in the Carolina zone led directly to a scoring chance for Atkinson at 12:42 on a backhander 10 feet from the net. 

2) First period shots on goal were 11-9 in Carolina's favor. Shot attempts were tied at 23-23, Scoring chances were 12-7 Carolina. High-danger chances favored the Flyers, 4-2. Faceoffs were 10-9 Carolina (Poeling was 2-for-2 for the Flyers, Aho was 3-for-3 for Carolina). The Flyers blocked 10 shot attempts, while Carolina blocked eight. Stats aside, the Hurricanes were the more dangerous team in the opening 20 minutes although the Flyers had some mid-period moments.

3) The Poehling line created a scramble around the Carolina net on the opening shift of the second period. At the 25-second mark, Jordan Staal was called for interference on Brink. The power play didn’t yield many quality chances.

Through 5:50 of the second period, shots were 7-2 Flyers.  Konecny's breakaway goal was the Flyers' 18th shot on goal of the game. 

At 9:38, Farabee went off favoring his wrist. He stayed in the game.

Hart got help from Nick Seeler and from the post on a near goal off a defensive zone draw.

Brink was sent off for a holding penalty againstJaccob Slavin in the offensive zone at 18:11. The Hurricanes went on their first power play of the game. Seeler blocked a shot right before the buzzer. A scrum broke out. Laughton was called for a cross-check on Bunting. The Hurricanes took an 11-second 5-on-3 power play into the third period (followed by 1:49 of 5-on-4 time).

4). Second period shots on goal were 16-12 Carolina (27-21 Hurricanes through two periods). Shot attempts were 31-18 Carolina (55-41 Carolina overall). Scoring chances were 18-6 Carolina (29-14 overall for the Hurricanes). High-danger chances were 3-3 (6-6 overall through 40 minutes). Faceoffs were 12-11 Flyers (22-22 overall). Through two periods, the Canes blocked 12 shots while the Flyers blocked 16. Seeler led all players with four.

5) The Flyers got through the brief two-man disadvantage. With 60 seconds left on the Laughton kill, Hart stopped an Aho backhander near the net. The Flyers generated two zone clears and got through the remainder of the kill unscathed.

With 16:46 on the third period clock, Hart gloved down an Aho shot from above the right circle. The Flyers continued to juggle lines.

Through 10 minutes of the third period, shots were 3-3. Kochetkov froze the puck near the net off an end-boards carom at 12:11.

Atkinson had a chance near the net with about six minutes left in regulation. On the next shift, Hathaway wasn't quite able to get to a loose puck over the middle.