Regular Season, Game 58: Hurricanes v. Philadelphia Flyers

For the fourth and final time this season, the Hurricanes and Flyers will be meeting, this time on national television. Today's afternoon affair will be broadcast on ABC, which already is sending some fans into a tailspin given the Canes' known struggles on games in front of a national audience. The prior three meetings have all ended in different ways. The Flyers rode an amazing start from Carter Hart (39 saves) to steal a 2-1 win in Raleigh on November 12. The Canes earned a measure of revenge two weeks later, scoring four unanswered goals to win 6-3 in Philadelphia. They last faced off just about three weeks ago in Philadelphia, 24 hours after a tough win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The game was back-and-forth for three periods, with Oskar Lindblom cleaning up a rebound to tie the game with less than five minutes left to force overtime. The Canes would earn the second point on an overtime-winner from Brett Pesce to sweep the Pennsylvania trip. Eyes will be on Jesperi Kotkaniemi after it was announced there is an eight-year extension that will likely be signed after the trade deadline. Antti Raanta finished with a 36-save shutout in the team's 2-0 win against Colorado on Thursday night with Ethan Bear breaking through late in the third period and Sebastian Aho added a goal in the empty net. Frederik Andersen will get the start today, seeming to indicate Raanta will play against Pittsburgh tomorrow for the third time this season. Derek Stepan will be in the lineup today for his 800th NHL game for Seth Jarvis, who appears to be dealing with a minor injury. The team is looking to extend its home point streak to 13 games, while Aho could take sole possession of 7th on the team's all-time points list with a point this afternoon.

The Flyers are coming off a tough loss on Thursday night in Sunrise to the Panthers. The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period after Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe both scored twice. The Flyers scored three unanswered in the second period, with James van Riemsdyk, Cam Atkinson, and Travis Konecny scoring to pull the Flyers within one going into the third period. The Panthers would put the game away as Anthony Duclair scored on the power play and Bennett completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal to make it 6-3. Both Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad recorded four assists as Carter Hart allowed five goals on 36 shots. The game also featured a lot of penalties minutes, with two fights and Zack McEwen receiving a ten-minute misconduct. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Flyers but also saw Scott Laughton leave the game early with an injury. The Canes have seen both Hart and Martin Jones this season, but Jones will get the nod today in the net. Both teams will play again tomorrow, both having to travel as well. I wouldn't expect either to be looking forward in the schedule, but tomorrow's game for the Canes is a little more important. The win over the Avs closed the gap between the two in the President's Trophy race. I'm not sure which team we'll get with the game on ABC. 

1st Period

Scoring

None

Thoughts

Each team had their chances in the period, including a power play each, but the goalies stopped everything that came their way. I thought the Canes came out very good, but the Flyers built a bit of a period after killing the Brown penalty. Andersen made some emphatic saves with his pads and his blocker, but the spinning glove save on the power play was probably his best of the period. The Canes got some good bounces on their kill that really helped them kill it off. I'd like to see more zone time with more shots on Jones. They kept moving the puck around well, but they weren't putting much on the net during some of those sequences. 

2nd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 8:34- Steven Lorentz (7) (assisted by Derek Stepan (8) & Jalen Chatfield (3))

(PHI) 16:50- Derick Brassard (6) (assisted by Cam Atkinson (23) & Rasmus Ristolainen (13))

Thoughts

The Canes had a Jekyll and Hyde period. The first half of their period was excellent. The fourth line broke through and scored on a beautiful feed from Stepan for his 500th point with Lorentz the benefactor. The second half of the period was not as good and the Flyers, while technically scoring twice only to have the first one called off, got on the board late after Andersen misplayed a bouncing puck and gave up a bad rebound to Brassard. Both teams had just nine seconds on the power play in the period, so that was a wash. Svechnikov missed the net on a breakaway, then was stopped with the shaft of the stick about ten seconds later. The Canes need to play a more consistent game in the third period to get the two points. I didn't love what I saw towards the end.  

3rd Period

Scoring

(CAR) 16:10- Jordan Martinook (3) (assisted by Vincent Trocheck (24) & Ian Cole (12))

(CAR) 19:39- Sebastian Aho (26) EN (assisted by Andrei Svechnikov (29))

Thoughts

We got to see a full period of 5-on-5 and this is more the style of game I expected from the Canes. The offense spent some serious time in front of Jones and they would eventually breakthrough from the most unlikely of sources. Trocheck threw a puck on the net from the point and Maritnook deflected it home with under four minutes left. Add the empty net goal from Aho for the second game in a row and the Canes earned the two points without needing extra time. The Flyers didn't threaten too much throughout the period, though they did get a few good looks. It was a strong return from Andersen, who only had the one bad misplay, leading to the goal in the second. Nice to see him return to form with some extra days off. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Steven Lorentz (Goal)

The fourth line was looking good in the lead up to the goal, but this was the perfect way to break the ice instead of waiting until the third period. This has also been a stretch of drought-snapping games as he scores for the first time in 19 games. It was a nice way to get things going and for the fourth line to be the ones to get it done.

Second Star- Jordan Martinook (Goal)

I'm convinced he's seen our tweets about him playing in the top six and thought this was the time to get it done. It was a beautiful deflection in the slot to break the tie and get him his third of the season. He was in front of the net almost all afternoon, but couldn't get a good bounce. It's his first goal in 16 games, so nice to see him back on the scoresheet as well.

First Star- Derek Stepan (Assist)

Playing for the first time in a few games, plus it being his 800th game made this a big one for him. He'd been sitting on 499 points for a little bit, but point #500 was beautiful one from below the goalline. He played under ten minutes today, but he put four shots on Jones. It was a highlight reel play from the fourth line to get the team on the board. 

Final Thoughts

Give Martin Jones some credit because he kept the Flyers in this game. It's the third time in the last week or so that the Canes have scored on a puck thrown towards the net from the point that is deflected home. It doesn't matter how they go in just as long as they find their way past the goalie. It was very nice to see the depth guys on the scoresheet and leading the way for this one. Aho scored the empty net goal, but the grunt work was done from guys that aren't known for their goal-scoring. Andersen looked good in his return to the team after dealing with an injury. He'll be upset about the misplay leading to the Brassard goal, but he stopped everything else en route to his 30th win. There isn't going to be much rest as the team heads to Pittsburgh for a game tomorrow afternoon to conclude the season series up north. The win today gave the Canes an eight-point cushion on the Penguins, while tying them with Colorado with 87 points. I would expect Raanta to play tomorrow, which is fine with me after the two weeks he's had. It's a very quick turnaround and the third in four days for the Canes as the Pens had the day off. Should be interesting to see how rested the Canes really are for their afternoon tilt.