2022-23 Regular Season, Game 8: Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers

There's no time for the Canes to lick their wounds after an embarrassing 6-2 loss last night. The Canes tried to stay in it in the second period with goals from Martin Necas and Brent Burns, but sloppy play with the puck allowed the Islanders to capitalize on every small mistake and they ran away with it in the third period. The turning point in the game was the 5-on-3 at the end of the second period that the Canes were unable to capitalize on when it was still 3-2. Ilya Sorokin was stout and outplayed Frederik Andersen, especially in the third period. It was a rude awakening for the Canes and I expect to see wholesale changes in their game tonight. I'm not sure if it was the long road trip, the long break between games, or if the Islanders were that much better, but it was a poor effort in the final 30 minutes that hadn't been there in any other game this season. The good news is that it's just the seventh game of the season. It's not the end of the world, though many fans won't let you think that. They're going to be fine and today would be a good day to correct course. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Teuvo Teravainen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Dylan Coghlan-Jalen Chatfield

Antti Raanta

Frederik Andersen

Extras- Ondrej Kase (concussion protocol), Calvin de Haan (day-to-day)

The Canes didn't have a morning skate before the game, so there isn't much certainly surrounding the lines for tonight. I don't envision any changes among the forward lines despite the shift late in the game last night. Jordan Staal will play in his 1,100th game tonight. It'll also be his 669th with the Hurricanes, moving him into fourth all-time in Hurricanes history, passing Cam Ward and sitting behind brother Eric Staal, Glen Wesley, and head coach Rod Brind'Amour. I don't expect any changes on defense since they are pretty limited in what they can do with de Haan day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Antti Raanta will get the start tonight after Frederik Andersen played last night. Raanta is 4-1-2 in his career against the Flyers with a 1.92 goals-against average in seven games.

Tonight's Opponent: Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-0, 10 points, 1st in the Metropolitan Division)

The Flyers have been one of the biggest surprises to start the season under new head coach John Tortorella and a lot of that credit belongs to goalie Carter Hart. After a rough two-season stretch, Hart is undefeated in his first five starts of the season, allowing just two goals per game on 188 shots faced. They've also gotten strong starts from Kevin Hayes, who is tied for fourth in the league with nine assists, and Travis Konecny, who leads the team with four goals and is second with eight points. It'll be our first look at Tony DeAngelo in a Flyers uniform after a solid season in Carolina. He leads their defense with six points, three of which have been on the power play. The Flyers are coming off a 4-3 win over Florida on Thursday night. After alternating goals in the first period, the Flyers scored twice in the second to take a 4-2 lead and held on from there. Hart made 48 saves in the victory, a new career-high for him. Joel Farabee scored and added an assist, while Konecny and Hayes had two assists each. They are at the top of the division right now but have already run into some big injury trouble. Sean Couturier is expected to miss 3-4 months. James van Riemsdyk, who had five points in their first six games, is out for the next six weeks with a broken finger. Cam Atkinson is out with an upper-body injury. They claimed Kiefer Bellows off of waivers this week, so he'll make his debut tonight, but they're missing some major firepower on offense. 

Last Season v. Carolina- The Canes and Flyers met four times last season. After the Flyers won the first meeting in mid-November 2-1 in Raleigh behind two third-period goals, the Canes won the final three meetings. Two weeks after the home loss, the Canes went to Philadelphia and trailed 2-1 after the first period. They'd outscore the Flyers 4-1 in the second period and would go on to win 6-2 as Sebastian Aho scored twice. They wouldn't play again until late-February in Philly. They alternated goals for the first two periods, sitting tied 3-3 after 40 minutes. The two teams would go scoreless in the third period, so they'd go to overtime. In the extra session, Vincent Trocheck hit Brett Pesce with an excellent saucer pass and he'd go top shelf to win the game and earn the second point for the Canes. In the final meeting, the Canes would outmuscle the Flyers in the third period with Aho breaking a 1-1 tie with just under four minutes left in the third period and Jordan Martinook added the empty-net goal to win 3-1. 

Philadelphia's Starting Goalie: Carter Hart- His start to the season has been well documented. There might not be a hotter goalie in the league right now. Hart faced the Canes twice last season with two polar opposite starts. He was in the net for their win in Raleigh, stopping 39 shots in the 2-1 win. Two weeks later, he allowed six goals as the Canes routed the Flyers. In his career, he's 3-3-0 and has allowed almost three goals per game. In each of his three wins, he's only allowed one goal. In his three losses, he's allowed four or more goals twice. Which version of Hart will we see tonight?

Philadelphia Player to Watch: Ivan Provorov- There are plenty of forwards to pick from to watch, but I'm more interested in the defense of the Flyers. Obviously, DeAngelo is going to be interesting to keep an eye on, but I'm more focused on his defensive partner. It always seems like Provorov plays well against the Canes. In his career, he has 11 points in 21 games, and his five goals against the Canes are tied for his most against any other opponent (Buffalo). He's off to a good start, with five assists in seven games. While DeAngelo is likely going to be a little extra hyped to play the Canes, it'll be up to Provorov to keep him under control. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(CAR) 5:27- Jordan Staal (1) (assisted by Brett Pesce (3) & Brady Skjei (4))

(CAR) 15:04- Jordan Martinook (2) (assisted by Jesper Fast (1) & Jordan Staal (2))

2nd Period

(PHI) 5:14- Nicolas Deslauriers (1) (assisted by Lukas Sedlak (1) & Wade Allison (1))

(PHI) 8:18- Owen Tippett (1) PP (assisted by Travis Konecny (5) & Tony DeAngelo (5))

3rd Period

(PHI) 6:09- Wade Allison (2) (assisted by Lukas Sedlak (2) & Nicolas Deslauriers (2))

(CAR) 17:55- Martin Necas (5) (unassisted))

Overtime

(CAR) 4:06- Brent Burns (2) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (6) & Martin Necas (6))

Let's Talk About the Game

After a pedestrian game from the team last night, it was nice to see the Staal line step up and get going from the jump tonight. In a milestone game for the captain, it's only fitting that he gets the scoring started. After the Canes failed to convert on a power play, Brett Pesce throws a shot from the point off the endboards and Jordan Staal just finds a little bit of space to squeeze it through Carter Hart to take the early lead. About ten minutes later, after a successful penalty kill, the Staal line was at it again. They won a board battle, got the puck to Jesper Fast, who saucered it to Jordan Martinook at the top of the crease, and he slammed it home as Hart was a little too slow to move. It was after this goal that the physicality picked up. There were some scuffles and some penalties, but at the end of it all, the Canes led 2-0 after the first period after an excellent 20 minutes. 

For the next 37:55, the Hurricanes reverted to the undisciplined team that has reared its ugly head at times early in the season. A defensive breakdown led to the Flyers getting on the board, courtesy of their fourth line. Nicolas Deslauriers was left all alone in front of Antti Raanta and the Canes goalies couldn't get enough of it as Philadelphia got on the board. The other big problem in the period was penalties. They took five penalties in the final 40 minutes of the game, including two in the offensive zone. While the kill looked good, they weren't perfect. Shortly after the Flyers cut into the lead, they made it disappear. Owen Tippett found enough daylight through the pads of Raanta to get one home and tie the game. The Flyers continued to run play in the second period and it carried into the third. Early in the period, it was the fourth line again that got through the Canes' defense and it would lead to the lead for Philadelphia. Wade Allison got enough of a backhand over the pad of a sprawling Raanta as he couldn't quite get stop it and it trickled over the line. 

Even after this goal, Philadelphia continued to push. Raanta had to be at his best and he was. His biggest save of the night came on Tony DeAngelo as he was coming off the bench and had an open lane to the net. Raanta came out and challenged him and made a huge stop to keep the Canes in the game. Jesperi Kotkaniemi would take the fifth penalty of the final two periods, a cross-checking penalty in the offensive zone, late in the period and it really felt like the Canes were about to lose because of two goals from the Flyers' fourth line. Even if they killed it, it wasn't going to leave them much time to find the answer. Little did I know that there was a plan in place to make sure Martin Necas got the puck because once he did, magical things happened. Shortly after killing the penalty to Kotkaniemi, Necas skated into the zone and unleashed a wicked shot that beat Hart over his shoulder and tied the game out of nowhere. The Canes quickly went from likely losing in regulation to likely getting a point. The thing is, the Canes almost went ahead and won it in regulation. They had some good chances that didn't quite materialize and the game would go to overtime. In the extra session, the game almost ended very quickly. Travis Konecny got two very good chances against Raanta, the first on a two-on-one and the second by fighting through the defense, but Raanta stopped both. It would be all Carolina from there for about four minutes. Necas almost ended it by going coast-to-coast, but he couldn't elevate it. In the final minute, Necas would take his time to get a play started. He would pass it over to Aho, who left it on a tee for Brent Burns, and he clapped it over Hart to complete the comeback, scoring his second in as many nights, and get the second point for the Canes. 

I think the Canes stole two points for the Canes tonight. They were the better team in the first period, but fell asleep for most of the next two periods, losing their lead after three unanswered goals from the Flyers. It's a good thing the penalty kill was sharp tonight because they really kept the Canes in it after allowing the goal early in the second. I was very close to putting the entire Staal line as the stars of the game below, but the final 2:05 of regulation and the overtime period changed my mind. Still, it was very nice to see the Staal line get going tonight. They scored the eventual game-winner against Vancouver on Monday to get Staal and Fast their first points of the season. Tonight, it just felt different. They were clicking on all cylinders, winning board battles, and were rewarded with two goals. The real star of the night is Necas as he really was the catalyst in the Canes getting any points. This is the guy we've been waiting on and he is here to cause some chaos. Overall, the Canes got two points and it feels really good. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Antti Raanta (26 Saves on 29 Shots)

Giving up three goals isn't necessarily the most impressive, but what I loved about Raanta's night was his timeliness after the Canes got down 3-2. He made some huge stops in the final 15 minutes of regulation and to start the overtime period. Philly almost ended things quickly in overtime, but he was there with the glove. Raanta was just as big a part of this win as the offense was. 

Second Star- Jordan Staal (Goal, Assist in 1,100th Game)

Milestone games are always going to come with some level of excitement. For Staal tonight, he turned that into two points, more than he'd had all season coming into the game. He picked up his first goal of the season, getting the monkey off his back, then won a battle to help set up the Martinook goal. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a hot streak for Staal.

First Star- Martin Necas (Goal, Assist)

Is there anything he can't do at this point? Necas has seemed to conquer every huge moment thrown at him this season and he did again tonight. His goal ensured at least one point, but his play in overtime was crucial. After almost ending it with his second of the game, Necas waited long enough for Aho and Burns to get back before setting the play in motion that led to the game-winner. 

What's Next

The road isn't getting any easier for the Hurricanes as they'll head home to begin another busy week. The week begins with Washington coming to town for another Metropolitan Division game, the third straight for the Canes. The Capitals won tonight as well, shutting out Nashville 3-0 behind 33 saves from Darcy Kuemper and Alex Ovechkin's fourth goal of the season. The Canes will then have their second set of back-to-back games with travel when they go to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning and come back home to face Buffalo on Thursday and Friday. It will end with Toronto coming into town on Sunday night. This will be a huge week for the Canes, facing three playoff teams and a team on the verge. That makes tonight's win even more important as the Canes look to build some momentum again.