Last night completed a seven-game homestand for the Philadelphia Flyers (28-32-8).
A loss to the Carolina Hurricanes (41-22-4) posted the ugliest result. It was the only shutout loss in a stretch where the Flyers went 1-6-0.
Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body) and Garnet Hathaway (upper body) remained out of the lineup. Sam Ersson occupied the crease for Philadelphia. The Flyers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with the same lineup, but the Hurricanes were a different beast. Carolina stomped their path to a road win, 5-0.
First Period
Shots: 12-11, Flyers
Score: 2-0, Hurricanes
Early on, Cam York nearly served a minor penalty for high-sticking. After all, the stick blade didn’t catch Taylor Hall anywhere to the face, but more around the sweater collar.
Sebastian Aho recovered a loose puck, snapping a shot past Ersson, 1-0, with 11:39 remaining in the first period. Jackson Blake cruised close on Ersson, but Travis Konecny broke up that chance. Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae failed to keep Blake away from the crease, and the extra effort from Blake to poke the puck from Konecny allowed Aho to pounce on a scoring opportunity.
John Tortorella unsuccessfully challenged the scoring play for goaltender interference. Matvei Michkov served the minor penalty for the unsuccessful challenge. Zamula made up for his earlier lapse, clearing the defensive zone. Tyson Foerster cleared the defensive zone twice to make Philadelphia 1/1 on the penalty kill.
Michkov served a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. He placed a well-delivered hit on Logan Stankoven, but the two continued their affair with a couple of butt-ends by Michkov. Konecny and Ryan Poehling had a shorthanded scoring opportunity on a rush, but Konecny missed wide. Sean Couturier crafted another shorthanded scoring opportunity, creating space with a pass to York. York passed to Foerster, but Pyotr Kochetkov made the save; a refreshing amount of offensive pressure while shorthanded made the Flyers 2/2 on the penalty kill.
Mark Jankowski snapped a rebound past Ersson, 2-0, with 4:14 remaining in the first period. Nicolas Deslauriers did a good enough job taking a quality shot away from Eric Robinson, but Ersson tried to swipe the puck away from the crease. In doing so, the puck lands squarely with Jankowski for the rebound goal.
Before the end of the period, Kochetkov denied Poehling on a breakaway. Then, Bobby Brink didn’t lift the puck above the leg pad. Kochetkov remained atop his game on back-to-back high-danger scoring chances.
Second Period
Shots: 22-21, Flyers
Score: 4-0, Hurricanes
Poehling served a minor penalty for tripping. Hall successfully drew a penalty this time, and Philadelphia paid for it. He put the Hurricanes on the powerplay and scored on a rebound opportunity, 3-0, with 19:41 remaining in the second period. The Flyers committed too many penalties but finished 3/4 (75%) on the penalty kill.
Carolina controlled the puck throughout the game to this point. In the first period, the Hurricanes didn’t register a hit on Philadelphia because they controlled possession often. Aside from two efforts by Rodrigo Ābols and Nick Seeler, which had life to get past Kochetkov, the Flyers were relatively quiet to begin the second period.
“We had some chances. We need to score one, just to give us some life. We don’t score, they come down and get the fourth one, and it’s just an uphill climb from there. We just can’t get demoralized.” – John Tortorella; 3/15/2025
Stankoven would’ve added a goal to his season total, but this time, Tortorella successfully challenged the scoring play. Jordan Staal was offside.
Jankowski scored his second goal, 4-0, with 6:45 remaining in the second period. Ābols, like Deslauriers on Robinson, kept up with Jankowski, but the shot dings the post and finds the back of the net. Ersson allowed a few poor goals in this contest as his evaluation continues.
After scoring his second goal, Jankowski served a minor penalty for roughing. Ābols put a good hit on Jankowski into Philadelphia’s bench, and Jankowski retaliated. The Flyers didn’t register a shot on goal on the powerplay and went 0/2 (0%) in the game.
Third Period
Shots: 30-26, Hurricanes
Score: 5-0, Hurricanes
Owen Tippett exited before Philadelphia went on their first powerplay. He returned in the third period and took the only shot on goal for the Flyers in the first five minutes.
Scott Morrow scored his first career NHL goal, 5-0, with 0:32 remaining in the third period. Stankoven took the original shot on goal, and Ersson allowed another rebound. His rebound control remained terrible throughout this game. Morrow backhanded the rebound to increase the lead.
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login