Over the final two periods, the Carolina Hurricanes outshot the Philadelphia Flyers 27-8, although Carolina was only able to solidify the win in the third. Scoring the team’s second goal of the night, center Sebastian Aho recorded his 58th game-winning goal — the most in franchise history.
Winning 4-1 against the Flyers (8-10-2), the Hurricanes (14-4-0) continue to cement themselves as the premier team in the Eastern Conference, and potentially the entire league.
The name of the game was getting bodies in front of the net and limiting Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov’s ability to track the puck. Although Fedotov was often in the right spot and had pucks hitting him and deflecting away, one can only do so much when the other team puts 37 shots on goal.
Three of the four Hurricane goals were scored due to a strong net-front presence, with the first coming 30 seconds into the game.
Retrieving the puck along the boards, defenseman Jalen Chatfield skated laterally toward the center of the ice firing a shot to the net. With three Canes forwards blocking Fedotov’s line of sight, the knuckle-puck got through for Chatfield’s first of the year.
The first period was the most competitive for the Flyers, who outshot the Canes 11-10 by the time the first 20 minutes came to a close. Despite the fact that the Hurricanes were on the penalty kill three separate times in the opening frame, the Flyers couldn’t even the score until the second.
Skating with the puck in transition, Philadelphia center Ryan Poehling carried it into the offensive zone. Just after he crossed the blue line, he fired a shot, beating Canes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov to the low-glove side.
A goal Kochetkov would like to have back was the only blemish on a night he saved 18 of 19. The Flyers struggled to generate any high-danger chances throughout the game so much wasn’t asked of Kochetkov.
Considering the Hurricanes have fared well against the Flyers recently — winning 12 of the last 13 matchups — one might wonder if a game like this was wasted on Kochetkov when he would be of more use tomorrow when the Canes play the second half of a back-to-back against a more formidable New Jersey Devils.
If Carolina haven’t already built a lead in the first two periods, it almost always makes a statement in the third. Second in the league in goal-differential in the final period, the Hurricanes kept with the script, scoring three.
Opening the period, Aho scored his record-setting goal by skating into the slot and firing a wrister that trickled through Fedotov and over the line. Aho’s goal marked his first of the season coming at five-on-five.
Despite a slow start in the faceoff circle, center Jordan Staal has been climbing back up the rankings over the past few games and it paid off on his goal. Winning the faceoff, Staal passed it back to Chatfield who put it on his backhand, setting up a one-timer from defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
Heading straight towards the net off the faceoff, Staal was rewarded when he tipped in Orlov’s shot for his third of the season.
The fourth and final goal came only 55 seconds later when center Jack Roslovic netted his 10th of the season. After Aho generated a turnover, he made a couple of moves around a few Flyers and fired a shot on net.
Taking advantage of the shot’s slow speed, Roslovic — who was skating across the front of the goal — possessed the puck in one motion and made a nifty play to turn around and score.
Next, the Hurricanes go into New Jersey to take on a hot Devils team that has won seven of their last 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
