After falling to the Flyers just two weeks prior, the Carolina Hurricanes demolished Philadelphia on Tuesday, Nov. 28. After closing out the game 4-1, the Canes appear to be on the upward swing after a rough start to the season.
Carolina (13-8-0) may have a winning record, but it lacks consistency. The offense struggled to get things going throughout the first few months, and this was evident in the Nov. 15 matchup between the Hurricanes and Flyers (11-10-1), where the Canes lost 3-1 on their home ice. The two teams’ most recent matchup marked a complete turnaround for the Canes, with nine different players notching a point.
Both teams started off slow in the first period, with more defense than offense — neither bench got over 11 shots on goal. It didn’t take many shots for the Canes to strike though, with left wing Michel Bunting sounding the buzzer first just six minutes into the first frame.
Center Sebastian Aho fed Bunting a cross-ice pass, positioning him to put the puck right past Philadelphia netminder Carter Hart. Aho further cemented his name on the Canes’ assist leaderboard by scoring his thirteenth and fourteenth assists of the season against the Flyers.
The goal was Bunting’s fifth of the season and 13th point, indicating that he’s developed well and proves to fit in nicely with Carolina after joining the team in the offseason.
With time ticking down in the first intermission, Carolina looked fresh and ready to go. Coming into the game, Philadelphia was 0-8-1 when heading into the second period down by one goal and the Canes were ready to add another loss to that list.
The Flyers evened the score seven minutes into the second period with a breakaway goal from right wing Travis Konecny. After sneaking past the Carolina defense, Konecny sniped a shot right behind goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov to make the score 1-1. But it wasn’t long until Carolina underdog left wing Brendan Lemieux took matters into his own hands.
Lemieux — playing in only his ninth game of the season — filled in for a sick right wing Andrei Svechnikov throughout the matchup and proved himself worthy when Carolina needed him most. The winger slipped a goal past Hart off of a rebound and gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with six minutes left in the second period. Carolina finished the period with 17 shots on goal compared to Philadelphia’s 12.
Heading into the third period, Carolina took a more defensive approach to its game. Despite this, the team went on to score two more goals in quick succession to cement the win.
Center Seth Jarvis struck first in the third frame, bringing the Canes’ lead to two goals. With his ninth goal of the season so far, Jarvis is well on track to beat his 14 goals from last year. Fed by Aho, Jarvis skated hard and fast down the ice to secure a breakaway goal against Hart. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi followed quickly behind, scoring a goal of his own just over a minute later to bring the final score to 4-1 in favor of Carolina.
The Canes will travel back to Raleigh to take on another Metropolitan Division rival in the New York Islanders on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
