The Carolina Hurricanes lost 3-2 in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers in front of 13,758 at PNC Arena Saturday night.
The Hurricanes (6-9-2) had a 2-1 lead entering the third period, but the Flyers (6-8-3) really jumped on them in the final frame, outshooting Carolina 11-3, before rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere’s wrister from the point deflected off forward Wayne Simmonds to tie the game at two. Flyers forward Jakub Voracek redirected defenseman Michael Del Zotto’s point shot past Canes goalie Cam Ward 37 seconds into overtime.
“I thought we played well for most part and the we didn’t have the puck enough coming down the stretch,” head coach Bill Peters said. “We were defending too much, and it eventually caught us in the end.”
Many would think losing their second game in a row in overtime after having a lead would be frustrating, but Peters didn’t see it that way.
“To me, no,” Peters said. “Disappointing loss, for sure. Every loss is disappointing. We lost [Ryan Murphy] in the second there, and then we didn’t move the puck as effectively from that point on.”
The Canes got off to a good start in this one, really dominating the first half of the game as they outshot Philadelphia by a margin of 18-7 over the first two periods. There was a stretch of 27:59 through the first and second period where the Flyers did not have a shot on goal.
Carolina struck first on right wing Elias Lindholm’s second goal of the season 14:15 into the first period. Lindholm and forward Eric Staal broke in on a two one one and Lindholm sent the puck into the crease. Staal and Jay McClement furiously fought to shovel the puck in, and Lindholm circled the net then picked up the loose puck off the scramble and roofed it over Flyers goalie Steve Mason.
“I think there was good hunger on the first [goal]”, Peters said. “Lindy had a good chance on the rush and stayed with it. I think there’s quite a bit of traffic there. That’s the area you need to get to. That’s how you score one. When you haven’t score or you’re struggling to score, that’s the area you need to get to.
The Canes had a golden opportunity to take a two goal lead early in the second as Kris Versteeg fired wide with an empty net.
A few minutes later the Canes got their second power play of the game as defenseman Ryan Murphy was boarded behind his own net. He suffered an upper body injury and did not return to the game, Peters later said he believed it was a shoulder injury.
The Canes made good on this power play, as Eric Staal collected his second assist of the game when he zipped a cross ice pass to forward Victor Rask down low, who made no mistake.
The Flyers would then cut the lead in half as a shot from the wall by Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn got by Ward.
As has been the norm this season, the Canes struggled to score following Rask’s goal. They had a few good chances the rest of the second, especially a Jordan Staal point blank shot that was stoned by Mason.
The Canes outshot the Flyers 21-19 for the game. They won the special teams battle, going 1-for-3 on the power play and killing off their only penalty of the game.
The loss drops the Canes to 0-0-2 on the current five game homestand, where they next play against the Anaheim Ducks at PNC Arena on Monday.
