Carolina Hurricanes Beat Flyers In Overtime Saturday

For the second straight game, the newcomer in goal was the most valuable player for the Philadelphia Flyers. As they continue to iron out the process and try to find a way back to their playoff form from a season ago, their new goalie has ensured they come away from these games with something.

Joseph Woll was outstanding in goal again, but came up just short on an overtime power play for the Carolina Hurricanes. Former Flyer Shayne Gostisbehere scored the game-winning goal at 2:51 of overtime, to lift Carolina to a 3-2 decision on Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

How It Happened

It took just 10 seconds for Carolina to get on the board. The Flyers lost a loose puck behind the net and William Carrier's centering pass went off the stick of Christian Dvorak and right to Sebastian Aho, who quickly put it on goal and off the glove of Woll and in for his second goal of the season.

The Flyers evened things up at 8:03. Owen Tippett stayed with the play and got the puck in the slot to fire it home for his first goal of the season.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 13-6 Carolina.

The Flyers took the lead at 7:20 of the second. Matvei Michkov was all alone in front after a centering pass from Travis Konecny and buried it past Pyotr Kochetkov's poke-check attempt to make it 2-1.

Through two periods, shots were 30-12 Carolina.

An early power play allowed Carolina to tie the game. Aho struck for his second of the game, firing a shot from the bumper to make it 2-2 at 4:59.

The Flyers were unable to capitalize on a late third-period power play that carried into overtime. When Carolina got a power play moments later, they struck for their second goal on the man-advantage in the game to secure the victory, the first of the season for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Box Score

1st Period

CAR Sebastian Aho (2) (William Carrier, Andrei Svechnikov) 0:10
PHI Owen Tippett (1) (Trevor Zegras) 8:03

2nd Period

PHI Matvei Michkov (1) (Travis Konecny, Christian Dvorak) 7:20

3rd Period

CAR Aho (3) PP (Nikolaj Ehlers, Svechnikov) 4:59

Overtime

CAR Shayne Gostisbehere (1) PP (Jackson Blake, Aho) 2:51

By the Numbers

Shots: Flyers: 18, Hurricanes: 40
Power Play: Flyers: 0-for-4, Hurricanes: 2-for-4
Faceoffs: Flyers: 50.8%, Hurricanes: 49.2%
Goalies: PHI Joseph Woll: 37 saves on 40 shots, CAR Pyotr Kochetkov: 16 saves on 18 shots

Key Performers

⭐ Sebastian Aho — Aho was the catalyst behind all three goals for Carolina, scoring the first two and getting an assist on the game-winner for a three-point night.

⭐⭐ Joseph Woll — For the second straight game, Woll was outstanding. Facing a heavy volume of shots, Woll continued where he left off on Thursday with 37 saves on 40 shots.

⭐⭐⭐ Shayne Gostisbehere — The former Flyer cashed in for the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime to deliver Carolina their first win of the season.

The Takeaway

There were some positives to take away from this game, but the lack of an elusive first win of the season continues to loom over the Flyers.

The glaring issues remain present through the third game of the season. Too many shots allowed and too big a disparity in shots. The power play had a chance to be heroic and came up short again. The penalty kill had an especially rough night going 2-for-4.

Joseph Woll was huge again to get the Flyers a point, but the road continues to finding a way to win a game. If it's to come in the next three games, it would be on the road, and against three teams that were all part of the playoffs last season.