The Philadelphia Flyers played well but not well enough to secure the two points against one of the best teams in the NHL. The Carolina Hurricanes looked weary and tired during the first 31 minutes of the game but looked like a completely different team in the second half of the game. After taking the lead on 3 separate occasions, the Flyers kept clawing their way back to tie things up. Brett Pesce scored the eventual game-winner with 18 seconds remaining in overtime as the Flyers fell for their 5th consecutive defeat.
The Philadelphia Flyers haven’t played since Thursday, have lost 4 in a row, are in the midst of a franchise-long 8 game home-stand and playing against the top team in the Metropolitan Division and second in the conference; they should have been raring to go with their fresh legs. Carter Hart was ruled out before puck-drop due to an eye infection but they welcomed back Patrick Brown and Rasmus Ristolainen to the lineup.
With the Carolina Hurricanes having just dispatched the Pittsburgh Penguins yesterday, the idle Flyers needed to be ready to go from the moment the puck was dropped. A quick start would have been ideal since this was the first game of a back to back as they play host to the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night.
FIRST PERIOD
In the first minute and a half, the Flyers threw 3 shots towards Freddie Andersen, which is a happy surprise with how often they have gone without a shot for the first half of a period. 7 minutes into the game and the Hurricanes still didn’t have a shot on a goal with only one attempt that was blocked.
The chances kept coming from the Orange and Black as Claude Giroux and Oskar Lindblom had a 2 on 1 rush, and then Isaac Ratcliffe stole the puck in the offensive zone and hit the shoulder of Andersen and then the crossbar. He followed that up on the ensuing face-off with a through-the-legs shot attempt that Andersen had to stave off through a scrum in the blue paint. With 9:17 remaining in the period, the Canes finally got their first shot, which was easily caught and covered by Martin Jones.
Carrying most of the pressure in the period, the Flyers were awarded a power play after Giroux was cross-checked. The 30th-ranked power play was going up against the 1st-ranked penalty kill but truth be told, with how abysmal it’s been this year, the 32nd-ranked penalty kill could probably kill off a Flyers power play. The Flyers recorded a shot on goal right off the face-off but not much else as they seem to be one of the only teams that have completely foregone the one-time option on the man advantage.
The first period ended with the Flyers playing very well, as well as they have played in parts of any game in recent memory. The Hurricanes were kept to 2 shots as the Flyers peppered Freddie Andersen with 11. There were not too many high danger chances but they were shots nonetheless and against one of the top teams in the NHL, and a tie going into the second period was a positive sign.
SECOND PERIOD
Just as they did yesterday when they scored 9 seconds into the second period against the Penguins, Nino Niederreiter broke the dead-lock only 24 seconds into the second period. On a fortuitous bounce the Hurricanes scored the first goal of the game as Jaccob Slavin started the play when he sent a high outlet to Jesper Fast from his own end. Fast caught it right at the blue line, sent a dump-in that bounced off the boards, the puck then took a funny bounce over Travis Sanheim’s stick, and landed right in the blue paint for Niederreiter to get it past the surprised Jones.
However, the Flyers tied the game up on a fortuitous bounce of their own only 35 seconds later thanks to Gerry Mayhew. Justin Braun’s point shot was stopped by Andersen but the rebound was corralled by Mayhew, who tried sending a pass into the slot but it hit the stick of Sebastian Aho instead and redirected straight into the net.
The Flyers drew a penalty shortly after tying the game in a bid to take the lead but the number one ranked penalty kill thwarted it with relative ease. The shots and chances kept coming from the sticks of players wearing the Orange and Black as they held a 19-6 shot advantage at the midway point of the game. Sometimes that doesn’t matter as much as we hope for because the Hurricanes quickly re-took the lead after the second commercial break of the second period.
It was another lucky bounce as the puck bounced off the shin pad of Nick Seeler and past Jones but Teuvo Teravainen will take them however he can get them. The recently re-formed top line of Aho, Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov quickly transitioned after a Gerry Mayhew opportunity. Aho went from the defensive zone to offensive zone with speed, dropped it off to Svechnikov who easily skated past Keith Yandle and wrapped the puck around the net to Teravainen. The Finnish forward was left all alone and unmarked in the slot for the easy goal.
The Hurricanes were awarded their first power play of the game shortly after and had several chances, including 5 shots on goal that Jones was able to handle. They controlled the puck for most of the 2 minutes, except for a short burst when the Flyers stole the puck and produced an odd-man rush with Scott Laughton, Patrick Brown, and Travis Sanheim. They mustered up a few chances right in the slot but Andersen stood his ground.
The latter half of the period belonged to the Hurricanes who only had 6 shots in the first 31 minutes of the game but fired 9 in the final 9 minutes of the second stanza. The Flyers were forced to defend the storm and finished the final 9 minutes with only 3 shots of their own.
THIRD PERIOD
With a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, the Hurricanes who held a 23-1-1 record when leading after 2 periods, seem unbeatable. However, there was a small glimmer of hope as their lone regulation loss in that stretch came against the Flyers on the 12th of November. 5:19 into the third period, Patrick Brown and the fourth line tied the game up as they tried to make it 2 regulation losses after 2 periods for the Hurricanes.
Off an offensive zone face-off win, Rasmus Ristolainen sent the puck towards the boards behind the net but it took a strange bounce that Ratcliffe was able to recover as he bodied a defender for the puck. He brought the attention of a second Hurricane as he quickly turned the other direction and tried wrapping it around the net. He was successful and in doing so, he found an unmarked Brown at the other side to slam it home and tie the game.
The tie didn’t last long as the Hurricanes re-took the lead 1:58 minutes later courtesy of Vincent Trocheck. Winning a board battle behind the Flyers net, Steven Lorentz snapped a pass to the point after Trocheck knocked the puck free. There was some D-to-D passing between Ian Cole and Ethan Bear before the latter’s shot was deflected by Martin Necas, hitting Ristolainen, and Trocheck scooped up the loose puck and scored with relative ease.
The Flyers had another crack with their power play to tie the game shortly after Trocheck’s goal. However, it resulted in the same the way as the previous 2, with very little scoring opportunities. Noticing the lull, Zack MacEwen tried reigniting the flame as he threw fists with Cole after being pushed from behind by the Hurricanes defenseman. He won the spirited bout but more importantly, the Flyers were able to tie the game on the very next shift.
It was a very strong and hard-working shift by the newly-minted second line of Scott Laughton, Travis Konecny, and Oskar Lindblom. They were in and around the blue paint and were aided by the aggressiveness from their blue line courtesy of Sanheim and Ristolainen. Sanheim and Ristolainen played catch before the former found Konecny in the slot. He quickly took a turn-around shot that deflected off of Lindblom and barely squeaked past Andersen. Sanheim was there just in case to knock in the loose puck as the Hurricanes were thinking of challenging it for goaltender interference.
OVERTIME
Overtime was controlled by the Hurricanes as the Flyers didn’t touch the puck for the first 2:05 minutes before Jones stopped Necas’ shot. The Hurricanes had several chances and 3 line changes before Jones covered it up. The Flyers’ first scoring chance came off a Trocheck turnover but Giroux was stopped on an odd-man rush. After Aho and Svechnikov combined for 4 shots on goal, they bumped into each other and Giroux jump-started a 3 on 1 opportunity. Sanheim found Atkinson but he was robbed by the blocker of Andersen.
After recovering midway through the overtime period, the Flyers couldn’t secure the extra point after Trocheck sauced an aerial pass to defenseman Brett Pesce, who beautifully knocked it down and scored top shelf in fluid motion. There was only 18 seconds remaining in the 3 on 3 overtime but the Hurricanes were able to grab the extra point with some fantastic offensive pressure.
UP NEXT
Up next are the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night when they visit Philadelphia in the third of eight games on this long homestand.
