Flyers Drop 4-3 OT Decision to Canes
The Philadelphia Flyers put themselves in a good position to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes but were ultimately unable to close it out and dropped a 4-3 overtime decision at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening.
The Flyers struggled on both sides of the puck in the first period -- "beating the hell out of the puck," in the words of head coach John Tortorella -- and fell into a 2-0 hole. Resilience from Philly is not a surprise at this point, however. The team has trailed first in seven of the eight games played so far, including five times by 2-0 scores, but has five wins to show for it. Even in a regulation loss to Florida and last night's overtime defeat, the Flyers came to either tie (Panthers) or take a lead (Carolina).
On Saturday, Tortorella described the second and third periods as perhaps the two best periods of the season from a checking standpoint and in terms of attacking through the middle.
Ultimately, though, the Flyers had to settle for one point.
A fluky goal by Jordan Staal (1st of the season) gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 5:27 of the first period. Jordan Martinook (2nd) made it 2-0 at 15;04.
In the second period, the Flyers generated closely spaced back-to-back goals by Nicolas Deslauriers (1st) and Owen Tippett (PPG, 1st) to tie the game at 7:18.
Wade Allison (2nd) gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead at 5:09 of the third period. With 2:05 left in the third period, Martin Necas (5th) tied it at 3-3. Brent Burns (2nd) netted the game winner in the final minute of overtime.
Carter Hart sustained his first loss of the season (5-0-1) but made 34 saves on 38 shots. Antti Raanta denied 26 of 29 Flyers' shots.
The Flyers went 1-for-6 on the power play. The Hurricanes were 0-for-4. For more, see the Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
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Phantoms Fall to Bridgeport, Visit Hershey
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms dropped to 2-3-1 on the young season as they lost, 6-3, to the visiting Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday night at the PPL Center. Special teams decided the outcome. Bridgeport torched Lehigh Valley for four power play goals, going 4-for-4 on the evening. The Phantoms were 1-for-5.
The final score would have even worse, except that Tyson Foerster (2nd goal of the season) tallied a goal in the final minute of regulation that only meant the difference between getting doubled up on the scoreboard vs. losing by four goals instead. In other words, it was zero consolation. at
The first period was scoreless, but the Phantoms had 12 shots on goal to six for the Islanders. In the opening minute of the second period, however, former Flyer/Phantom Andy Andreoff scored on a carryover power play. Wyatte Wylie knotted the score shortly thereafter on a shot that deflected into the net. The goal may be changed to credit Garrett Wilson. Either way, it was a 1-1 game through 22:33 of play.
Things went downhill from there for the Phantoms. Bridgeport went on to get an even strength goal by ex-Phantom Cole Bardreau shortly after the Wylie goal. That was followed by mid-period power play markers by Aatu Rà¤ty and Ruslan Iskhakov. Suddenly, the Phantoms were in a 4-1 hole heading into the third period.
In the final stanza, a Cam York power play goal from center point in the opening minute (1st goal of the season) briefly raised hopes of the Phantoms being able to mount a comeback bid. But a Jordy Bellerive tripping penalty and a power play goal by Arnaud Durandeau at 2:56 quickly restored a three-goal margin for the Islanders.
The Islanders turned the game into a rout. Seth Helgeson made it a 6-2 game at 8:46. Foerster notched the aforementioned goal in the final minute.
Troy Grosenick absorbed the loss in goal for Lehigh Valley. He stopped just 14 of 20 shots for a .700 save percentage on the night.
The Phantoms are on the road on Sunday, visiting the Hersey Bears. Game time is 5:00 p.m. EDT.