Vincent Trocheck
The road doesn’t get any easier as the Flyers face another team ranked in the top three in the league. The Carolina Hurricanes await for a Saturday afternoon matinee.
After scoring with under five minutes to play to tie the game, Brett Pesce got the game-winning goal with 18 seconds left in overtime to hand the Flyers a fifth straight loss, 4-3, at Wells Fargo Center.
It hasn’t been an easy schedule for the Flyers, having to go up against three of the top four teams in the Metropolitan Division in consecutive games. They will do so for the third and final time against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday afternoon.
Following an off day on Thanksgiving, the Flyers return to the ice to face the top team in the NHL, the Carolina Hurricanes, in the annual Black Friday game. The Flyers used the hot goaltending method to earn a 2-1 win against Carolina on the road earlier this month and they may need another one to salvage a week that certainly hasn’t been good so far.
Entering the third period on Friday night in Carolina, it was another similar case. Carolina had only one goal. Hart had 27 saves. This time, the Flyers gave him some run support, and Hart did the rest in a dominant performance that continued his hot start to the season.
Carter Hart kept the Flyers in another game, and this time his teammates rewarded the effort with two third-period goals in a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.
The Carolina Hurricanes have set the tone for the Metropolitan Division. While every team seems to be hovering around where the Flyers are with a 6-3-2 record and 14 points, the Hurricanes sit at the top of the division with a 10-1-0 record and 20 points. A challenging weekend back-to-back on the road begins for the Flyers in Raleigh.
The Flyers will face a well-rested Carolina Hurricanes team that has not played since a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday. The Hurricanes are currently the first team out of the playoffs, three points behind the Islanders for the final wildcard spot.
Patrik Laine is going off with goal scoring, still some room for fighting in hockey and another gruesome leg injury all in this week’s Around the NHL.
The Flyers get a heavy dose of the Eastern Conference this week. First up, the winless Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Game time is at 7 p.m.