Photo Credit: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
We knew going into this one the Carolina Hurricanes were going to be a challenge. The Canes came into this game with an 8-2-0 record, winning their last six in a row. Former Flyer Shane Gostisbehere has been an offensive force for Carolina so far this season. He is their 3rd highest scorer, 1st among defensemen, with 4 goals and 5 assists over 10 games. Winger Martin Necas was tied for the NHL lead in points for this week with 3 goals and 6 assists over 3 games.
The Flyers who have been struggling to find their offense are also currently dealing with situations on the back end. Starting goaltender Samuel Ersson will not be available for at least the next week or so. He is suffering a lower body injury that seemed to occur when the blade popped out of his skate during the Bruins game this past Saturday.
Also defenseman Cam York is still out of the line-up with an upper body injury, but his return seems to be getting closer. Emil Andrae has been impressive filling the spot in the line-up during York’s absence. Goaltender Alexei Kolosov got the start in the Flyers net tonight. Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov will be holding down the fort while Ersson recovers. This is a bit of a battle to see who will earn the backup job with the big club when their starter returns.
Philly vs Carolina
The Flyers shot right out of the gate with a first shift that seemed to catch Rod Brind’Amour’s team by surprise. Couturier, Michkov, and Joel Farabee maintained prolonged possession in the Carolina zone and created some solid chances. The very next shift the Hurricanes showed the Flyers they were capable of producing the same kind of pressure. Play went back and forth at this quick pace until Carolina loaded up the penalty box.
The Flyers ended up with a 5-on-3 advantage for a minute and eight seconds. After a slow start on the power-play Matvei Michkov fired a shot from the high slot. Pyotr Kochetkov made the initial save but the rebound went right to Travis Konecny at the side of the net with Kochetkov still out of position. Konecny smacked it home for his 6th goal of the season. The Flyers took the lead 7:54 into the 1st period on that power-play goal.
Carolina was doing a great job of pulling Flyers netminder Alexei Kolosov from side to side in the net then missing the opportunities they had created. The Flyers defense left Kolosov completely abandoned as Jack Drury threw a pass out front to a wide open Jackson Blake who tied the game 1-1. Kolosov made some nice saves as the period drew to an end.
Period Two
The first half of the 2nd period was wide open, back and forth, up and down. The kind of hockey that was probably driving both coaches totally nuts but is really fun to watch. Just under nine minutes in Eric Robinson beat Kolosov short blocker side to make it 2-1. Kolosov got a piece of it but not quite enough.
Less than a minute later Carolina scored again. Jordan Martinook capitalized on a play that drew a slow response from both Kolosov and Andrae and left him shooting the puck into a wide open net. Suddenly it was 3-1 in favor of the Canes.
Wake Up!
The Flyers did wake up. They snapped out of the temporary funk and put the pressure right back on. Travis Konecny hit Owen Tippett with a pass and Tippett decisively ripped a wrister from the dot that seemed destined to hit the back of the net. Tippett really needed a big goal and this was a big one. Tippett has been struggling offensively, this was only his second goal of the season.
Third Period
Just 1:18 into the final period the Flyers took a page out of the Carolina playbook. Travis Konecny passed to Travis Sanheim who skated to the left circle pulling the Canes netminder with him. He then fed the puck to wide open Morgan Frost all alone in front of the open net. Frost fanned on the tap in and as he was stumbling to his knees the puck hit his shin pad and traveled ever so slowly over the goal line. It was not the prettiest goal in the world but it still counts. Frost was still laughing as he skated to center ice for the ensuing faceoff.
The 3-3 tie lasted for all of 29 seconds. Sabastian Aho skated into the Flyers zone on a charge that eventually turned into a breakaway as three Flyers eventually lost their footing. Kolosov made the initial save. Rebound control by the Flyers goalie and defense was an issue all night. Jack Roslolic finally put the puck in the Flyers net.
The score remained that way until the middle of the period when Sean Couturier made a behind the back pass to Travis Konecny in front of the Carolina net. Konecny instead of receiving the pass redirected it between the legs of Canes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov tying the game once again at four apiece.
Hard Work
The Flyers played their tails off in this one. They were outmatched and used unrelenting hard work to even things up. They put up a valiant effort that fell just short as the game reached the final moments. Unfortunately for the Orange and Black they managed to make many different versions of the same mistake right in front of their own net all night long.
With 29 seconds left in regulation and the puck bouncing around in front of the Flyers net no one could seem to get a handle on the puck except for Martin Necas who scored the game winning goal. Top it off with an empty netter by Seth Jarvis at 01.8 and you have a 6-4 final score in a game that actually showed the Flyers headed in the right direction. They need to play more games the way they played this one. They also need to step up the security right on their own doorstep. Big time.
Next Up: Flyers in Tampa to faceoff against the Lightning Thursday November 7th, 7:30 PM
