The Philadelphia Flyers ended a six-game homestand with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday. The result also marked the start of a weekend home-and-home series between the two teams. The Flyers completed their homestand with two wins, two losses, and two overtime or shootout losses.
Bobby Brink scored his eighth goal of the season midway through the first period, giving Philadelphia an early lead. Trevor Zegras added another late in the first frame for his 12th goal of the year, putting the Flyers up 2-0. Carolina responded in the second period with goals from Nikolaj Ehlers and Alexander Nikishin, tying the game at 2-2 before intermission.
In the third period, Seth Jarvis put Carolina ahead for the first time. The Flyers answered quickly when Carl Grundstrom scored just 23 seconds later to even things at 3-3.
Goaltender Samuel Ersson made 18 saves on 21 shots during regulation and overtime for Philadelphia and stopped three out of four attempts in the shootout. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 17 of 20 shots for Carolina and was perfect in stopping all four Flyers shooters during the shootout.
The Flyers started with some changes on defense due to Nick Seeler having equipment issues, pairing Emil Andrae with Travis Sanheim early in the game. Matvei Michkov took an early penalty but Philadelphia’s penalty kill held strong throughout, finishing two-for-two on shorthanded situations.
Travis Konecny contributed a key assist on Zegras’ goal after recovering from a previous overtime turnover. “Not only did he have a nifty setup on Zegras’ goal, the two-time Bobby Clarke Trophy winner was frequently around the puck,” according to team observations.
Philadelphia did not have any power play opportunities during this game but managed to limit Carolina’s chances while shorthanded.
For much of the first half of play, Philadelphia maintained control over puck possession before Carolina took over momentum midway through regulation and tied up the score heading into third period play. In total shots, Carolina finished with a slight edge at 21 compared to Philadelphia’s 18 by game’s end.
During overtime neither team converted their chances, leading to a shootout where Jackson Blake secured victory for Carolina in round four after earlier misses by both teams’ shooters.
The Flyers’ starting lineup included forwards Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, Travis Konecny; Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier, Owen Tippett; Nikita Grebenkin, Noah Cates, Bobby Brink; Carl Grundstrom, Rodrigo Abols, Garnet Hathaway; defensemen Nick Seeler-Travis Sanheim; Emil Andrae-Jamie Drysdale; Ty Murchison-Noah Juulsen; goaltender Samuel Ersson backed up by Dan Vladar.
As noted postgame: “Philly did a good job killing the Michkov and Cates penalties. Overall, the Flyers went 2-for-2 on the PK.” The team will continue its series against Carolina as they look to rebound from this narrow defeat.
