Weal Scores in Final Seconds of OT to Give Flyers Win

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

At this stage of the season, getting two points is the goal every night. The Flyers saw a second point slip away in their last game in a shootout after fighting back in the third to just get the first point. They were seconds away from heading to another shootout, until Jordan Weal turned into the night's hero.

Weal scored with 3.1 seconds left in overtime to give the Flyers the win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

The Flyers got in some early trouble with penalties, having to kill off an early power play. Then Nolan Patrick took a double-minor for high-sticking and that set up Carolina to strike first.

The Hurricanes held possession for the entire power play, which did get through the first two minutes of the four-minute penalty, before Elias Lindholm was able to get his own rebound and score to give Carolina the lead.

The Flyers struggled in the first period with puck control, losing board battles and committing turnovers. Brian Elliott was tested early in his return to the net, making 10 saves in the first period. The Flyers outshot the Hurricanes, 11-10 in the first period.

The Flyers started to get more pressure in the second and eventually turned it into the game tying goal.

Late in the period, Wayne Simmonds was able to get a loose puck from in front and lift it past Cam Ward to tie the game with his 18th goal of the season. Simmonds was playing in his 500th game as a Flyer.

The Flyers did have two power plays early in the second, but failed to score on those before ultimately getting the tying goal with under four minutes to go in the second.

The third was a methodical and at times sloppy period as the two teams tried to avoid the mistake that may cost them points in the standings. The Flyers started to turn up the pressure late, getting a power play midway through the period and generating a lot of chances in the final two minutes of regulation.

The game headed to overtime for a frenetic five minutes. 

Carolina controlled the opening two minutes with possession time before the two teams shifted to a methodical approach to the possession game. The Flyers committed more turnovers in this time, allowed several quality chances for the Hurricanes, none bigger than a two-on-one in the final minute of overtime.

Jeff Skinner fired a shot that left a rebound for Jordan Staal that was stopped by the paddle of Elliott and swatted out of the way by Claude Giroux. Giroux then dropped to the ice to block another shot attempt with the net open for Staal.

With only seconds remaining, Weal ended up with the puck on one final rush in overtime. Weal cut to the slot and let a shot go along the ice that went through the five-hole of Ward and in to give the Flyers the win with just 3.1 seconds remaining in overtime.

Elliott made 27 saves in his return to the net after missing the last four games. Ward stopped 28 of 30 shots by the Flyers.

The Flyers return home on Thursday night to take on the Montreal Canadiens. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• CAR Elias Lindholm (15) PP (Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk) 15:05

2nd Period

• PHI Wayne Simmonds (18) (Jake Voracek, Nolan Patrick) 16:43

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Overtime

• PHI Jordan Weal (7) (Shayne Gostisbehere, Valtteri Filppula) 4:56

Game Statistics