Another 3rd Period Rally Falls Short for Flyers

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Early in the third period, the Flyers were delivering another one of those results, down 4-0. They finally got on the board with a power play goal. Then they scored another. And another. Just like that, it was a game again.

But as is the case when you dig such a hole, one mistake can sink any comeback effort. A late goal for the Hurricanes sealed the deal on a fifth straight loss for the Flyers by a score of 5-3 on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The first period was a slow-paced period. Carolina got a power play late in the period, but it lasted just two seconds before a penalty was called on the Hurricanes off the face-off. Shots through 20 minutes were 13-8 Carolina.

In the second period, the Hurricanes wasted little cashing in on a chance. First, Dougie Hamilton was left alone to walk in and fire a shot to the top shelf for his fourth goal of the season at 1:56.

Just 1:08 later, with Carolina on a power play, Justin Williams fired a one-timer from the slot for a power-play goal to make it 2-0.

The margin held up through two Flyers power plays in the middle of the period until the Flyers were back shorthanded late in the period. Sebastian Aho picked up his second assist of the game with a great set-up for Teuvo Teravainen to make it 3-0 with 2:40 left in the period.

The Hurricanes added another goal at 5:01 of the third. A point shot by Justin Faulk was deflected twice, last touched by Warren Foegele, to make it 4-0.

Just over a minute later, the Flyers got on the board with a power play goal. Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek set up Wayne Simmonds for an easy tap in at the side of the net, spoiling Petr Mrazek's shutout bid with 13:43 left in the period.

The Flyers quickly added another goal as Sean Couturier re-directed a pass from Giroux to the top shelf to cut the lead to two just 1:06 later.

On a power play midway through the period, the Flyers got another goal. James van Riemsdyk put home a rebound off a shot from Voracek and just like that, it was a one-goal game.

The Flyers pursued the tying goal late in the period, but a missed shot came out of the zone and set up an odd-man rush for the Hurricanes. Teravainen carried into the zone and took the shot, which leaked through Michal Neuvirth and in to make it a 5-3 game with 4:47 left in the game.

Neuvirth made 24 saves in the loss. Mrazek made 33 saves in the win.

The Flyers are back on the ice on Saturday afternoon against the Calgary Flames at 1 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• No Scoring

2nd Period

• CAR Dougie Hamilton (4) (Brock McGinn, Teuvo Teravainen) 1:56
• CAR Justin Williams (8) PP (Sebastian Aho, Hamilton) 3:04
• CAR Teravainen (9) PP (Aho, Micheal Ferland) 17:20

3rd Period

• CAR Warren Foegele (5) (Saku Maenalanen, Justin Faulk) 5:01
• PHI Wayne Simmonds (12) PP (Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux) 6:17
• PHI Sean Couturier (15) (Giroux, Travis Konecny) 7:23
• PHI James van Riemsdyk (6) PP (Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere) 10:58
• CAR Teravainen (10) (Unassisted) 15:13

Game Statistics