Rise and shine, Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Flyers ended the road trip with a win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Carter Hart deserved his praise, saving 31/32 shots in his return from illness.
Owen Tippett scored his fourth over the last three games. Ryan Poehling notched his first Flyers goal. Travis Konecny claimed the game-winner.
A winning streak is lovely, stringing together three straight victories, and breaking up a losing streak to the Hurricanes, before heading back to the Wells Fargo Center. The 3-1 victory represents the first home loss for Carolina this season.
Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes
In under two minutes, Philadelphia started their rally in Raleigh. Tippett accepted the drop pass from Morgan Frost, scoring a one-timer from above the face-off circle, 1-0, with 18:10 remaining in the first period. It was his sixth goal of the season, making it five points (4G, 1A) in a three-game span.
Frost, who scored twice against the Los Angeles Kings is beginning to silence critics via playmaking.
Hart turned in a superb return performance. He faced nine shots in the first period, stopping all of them. Jordan Martinook had an excellent chance, but didn’t lift the puck. Shortly after, Jesperi Kotkaniemi was in on a short breakaway, denied by Hart, after a defensive zone turnover by Yegor Zamula.
“That’s when I thought he [Hart] was at best, the first period. He had some great saves in the first period. He’s played well all year long. What’s interesting; we have three goalies play, get three wins on the road. Carter was sick out in LA; had a couple goalies go through that road trip and win a couple [of] games. Carter comes in here and plays very well.”
John Tortorella; 11/15/2023
Under a minute until the first intermission, Konecny redirected the puck from the slot past Pyotr Kochetkov. Nick Seeler set up the scoring play, uncorking a shot on goal from behind the faceoff circle. Konecny, 2-0, with :57 remaining in the first period, notched the eventual game-winner and his 10th of the season.
Quickly into the second, the Flyers proved they were hot. Poehling added to the lead, 3-0, with 19:31 remaining in the second period. He went from his backhand to forehand, then chipped to the top shelf. Sean Walker made the smart read to Poehling on the crease after Scott Laughton began the sequence from behind the net.
“Four blocked shots, scores a goal, had assignments tonight; if I didn’t get Couts [Couturier] out against Aho, Poehling was taking Aho. He’s played very well the past couple of games and hopefully we’ll keep seeing the offense. That’s a nice goal he scored.”
John Tortorella; 11/15/2023
Andrei Svechnikov hit Louie Belpedio, shifting energy into a Hurricanes possession. Zamula served a minor penalty for delay of game after flipping the puck out of the defensive zone and into the crowd. Philadelphia began to hit a lull in their play, finding themselves in penalty trouble, including a hooking minor from Seeler.
Carolina managed to get one past Hart, 3-1, with 9:00 remaining in the second period. Stefan Noesen placed the one-timer by Hart, set up by Tony DeAngelo. The scoring sequence followed an offensive zone chance where Sean Couturier didn’t take a daring shot on Kochetkov, electing to pass away the puck from possession.
Garnet Hathaway was incredible on the penalty kill. He and Noah Cates helped kill time in the offensive zone, playing keep away from the Hurricanes’ powerplay. However, the Flyers’ man-advantage is not. They’re ranked 31st in the NHL (7.3%), converting 4/53 opportunities.
“I thought the most important part of the game was the second period when they score a goal, the building gets revved up, we take two penalties, have to kill the penalties, and we get out of the second period, three-to-one; not three-to-two or three-to-three. We just held our composure, handled the momentum swing, and ended up starting the third period three-to-one. It was a really important part of our game.”
John Tortorella; 11/15/2023
Overall, the Hurricanes did outshoot Philadelphia, 32-24. A lot of the shots were harmless because of the shot blocking in front of Hart. Kochetkov saved 21/24 shots on goal. The Flyers improved to 8-7-1.
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers hope to extend the winning streak to four, hosting the Vegas Golden Knights at the Wells Fargo Center on November 18th at 1pm.
(AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
