Regular Season, Game 19: Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers

The west coast swing is over, so the Canes are heading back to the east coast to conclude their six-game road trip on Black Friday in the City of Brotherly Love. The Canes earned seven of a possible ten points out west, but have lost their last two games in San Jose and Seattle, both by a score of 2-1. The ending of the Seattle game was a bit out of nowhere. It didn't seem like the right time for the game-winner to go in, but it did and the Canes lost in regulation for just the third time this season. Another of the three teams to beat the Canes in regulation is Philadelphia, who beat them two weeks ago in Raleigh. Carter Hart stole the game for the Flyers, standing on his head in the third period of a 2-1 win for the Flyers. Since beating the Canes back on November 12, things haven't been going well for Philly. They're just 1-3-2 since then and have lost their last four games, albeit to some strong teams in Boston, Florida, and Tampa Bay twice. They've struggled to put pucks in the net against some quality defenses, which frankly was true even when they beat the Canes. This is a rare Metropolitan Division game for the Canes to this point in the season, so they need to capitalize on this opportunity and take home two points. Antti Raanta gets the start opposite Carter Hart as the flip-flopping of goalies continues and the lines are going to change back after being a mess on Wednesday. 

Full disclosure- I didn't get to watch this game live since I was with family for the holiday. I watched the replay of the game and knew the result going into it, but will give my thoughts period-by-period like I always do. 

1st Period

Scoring

(PHI) 0:50- Ivan Provorov (2) (assisted by Claude Giroux (10))

(CAR) 13:40- Sebastian Aho (9) (assisted by Teuvo Teravainen (11))

(PHI) 17:02- Joel Farabee (6) SH (unassisted)

Thoughts

There were two very clear negatives in the period and both are related to the goals that Philadelphia scored and when they scored. The Flyers scored less than a minute into the game, a less than ideal way to try and break a two-game losing streak. I'd say there was a 50/50 chance the goal would've been overturned, so I think challenging it was fine, but I agree that it was a good goal and there was nothing Raanta could do. The second Flyers goal came while they were short-handed when Farabee walked Jarvis and beat Raanta clean, which really can't happen when your power play hasn't been scoring much lately. Sandwiched in-between goals was the one huge positive from that first period. The Aho line with Necas and Teravainen was phenomenal all period. It's fitting they'd score the first goal. The Canes pushed hard to end the period, so that gives me hope that will transition into the second period. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 0:23- Sebastian Aho (10) (assisted by Martin Necas (7) & Brett Pesce (5))

(PHI) 1:16- Rasmus Ristolainen (1) (assisted by Morgan Frost (1) & Cam Atkinson (4))

(CAR) 1:45- Jesper Fast (6) (assisted by Nino Niederreiter (2) & Ian Cole (2))

(CAR) 5:48- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4) (assisted by Seth Jarvis (3) & Tony DeAngelo (14))

(CAR) 16:22- Steven Lorentz (3) (assisted by Tony DeAngelo (15) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2))

Thoughts

This was exactly the period the Canes needed and the momentum from the end of the first period absolutely transitioned into the second. Aho got his second of the game even quicker than Provorov to open the period. Rasmus Ristolainen gave then the lead again on a shot that Raanta could see all the way and he absolutely should've stopped. From that point, it was all Canes. Jesper Fast responded to tie it again just 29 seconds later on a third chance after Hart made two good stops. The Kotkaniemi goal and the Lorentz goal were both beautiful. Kotkaniemi was the benefactor of a beautiful series of passes from Svechnikov, DeAngelo, and Jarvis before he gave the Canes their first lead. Then, Lorentz scored after he had about 30 minutes to skate in on Hart, make a move, and bury the shot. I thought Lorentz had a great period. He had a couple chances earlier in the period that could've gone in. The Flyers tried to push back at the end of the period, but Raanta kept them out. I'm curious to see if we'll see something similar to the Canes at the beginning of this period for the Flyers at the beginning of the third. 

3rd Period

(CAR) 4:50- Andrei Svechnikov (8) (assisted by Jordan Staal (6) & Brady Skjei (4))

Thoughts

It's fun to watch this team play defense sometimes. Protecting a two-goal lead, the Canes didn't allow too many high-risk chances, and even when they did, Raanta was able to stop it or they missed the net completely. Andrei Svechnikov padded the lead with a goal to finally break his drought and it was a bullet. Tripp Tracy mentioned it on the broadcast, but that was three goals over Hart's glove in the game. It was a great final period to the road trip that didn't make me feel like the Flyers were going to threaten too much. It was a simple period that the Canes dominated from start to finish, much like the second period, and the Flyers' fans weren't happy about it.

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Game-winning Goal, Assist)

In just one period, Kotkaniemi managed to score 1/3 of the points he'd scored in the first 18 games. He was the benefactor of some beautiful passing and helped to lead the chance that led to the highlight reel goal from Steven Lorentz late in the second period to essentially ice the game. He's looked good at times on this road trip, but this was arguably his best performance of the season. 

Second Star- Tony DeAngelo (2 Assists)

I'm not exactly sure how he manages to see the ice as well as he does, but both of his assists tonight were really pretty. He gets the secondary assist on the Kotkaniemi goal, but his pass to Lorentz was amazing, He managed to give him enough time to set up, get in one-on-one with Hart, and beat him blocker side. He's been a real difference-maker in his short time with the team. 

First Star- Sebastian Aho (2 Goals)

I thought his line was the best forward line on the ice for either team and no one benefitted more from that than Aho. Both of his goals were huge given the time in the game, as they both tied things up. Both goals were snipes over the glove of Hart and they were both seemingly out of nowhere. He was buzzing with Teravainen and Necas all night. I think we need to play the Flyers more often if he's going to play this way. 

Final Thoughts

This was the type of effort the team needed to finish the road trip. They complete a two-week journey with nine of a possible 12 points and maintain their position atop the Metropolitan Division with a convincing win over a division opponent. I liked that a lot of guys contributed tonight with points. It feels like a common theme for the team has been responding when they get down and responding quickly. It took a little bit longer in the first period to tie it, but they scored twice in the first two minutes of the second period, tying the game both times. After the Fast goal, this game was all Carolina and the Flyers never mounted too much of a threat to the Canes. This was a far cry from the game we got between these two in Raleigh and was more reminiscent of the Carter Hart we've grown accustomed to lately. I didn't think Raanta played great, but he was good when he needed to be and the offense supported him from the second period onward. The team finally gets to head home for a tilt with the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon for Hockey Fight Cancer. Alex Ovechkin is on fire and you know he likes playing the Canes. Back-to-back division games make this a great opportunity to show some separation in the Metro.