Unlikely Scorers Spark Carolina: Hurricanes 2, Flyers 1

The Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to a lead again on Sunday, took their lead into the third period, but this time held onto it as they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the PNC Arena on Sunday.

The win gave the Hurricanes three out of a possible four points in their opening weekend while the Flyers dropped to 0-3-0 so far in their young season.

Jay Harrison started off the scoring for the home team as his shot from the point just barely squeezed through the "five-hole" of Steve Mason at 8:11 into the first period.  The Canes dominated the period at times and outshot the Flyers, (who had played the previous night in Montreal), 17-5.

Luke Schenn would tie the game just three minutes into the second, but the Canes would score again about five minutes later.

Jeff Skinner, who was skating well all night and earned the first star of the game, was forechecking and Schenn's pass went off of his skate right to a wide open Radek Dvorak, who was just outside the slot area.  Dvorak made no mistake and put the Canes back up by one, on a goal which would eventually be the game-winner.

The goal was the second of the season for the Czech native, a last minute signing by the Canes after he earned a spot on a tryout during training camp.

Skinner ended up with two assists for the game, also earning one on the Harrison goal scored earlier.

Anton Khudobin, somewhat of a surprise start in net, had a solid game and made the saves when he needed them.  When asked if he would alternate goalies game to game going forward, Muller responded that he may start out that way and see how it goes.  For now, he it seems he is not committing to either goalie.

The Canes will practice at 10 am tomorrow, then fly to Pittsburgh for their game Tuesday night against the Pens.

Game Notes:

• The first line still looks off-kilter. Fortunately, all the other lines are looking good and are continuing to build chemistry.
• Some mentioned that it might have been one of Skinner's best games as a pro, even though he didn't score a goal.  He was forechecking, playing defense, and contributing in other ways.  He had a couple of good passes that just missed.  He finished with a team high five shots on goal and was awarded the game's first star.
• The Canes outshot the Flyers 17-5 in the first period, and perhaps more importantly, 7-3 in the third.  For the game, they finished with a 34-18 advantage.
• Justin Faulk played a game high 25:44.  Next highest for the Canes was Andrej Sekera with 22:17.
• Rookie Elias Lindholm left the game for a bit after a hard hit into the boards, but came back to the bench and told the coach he was ready to go back in.  He had 7:34 of ice time.
• The Canes are perfect so far this season on the penalty kill, (5-5).  They went 0-4 on the powerplay tonight and had a few good as well as bad moments.
• Brett Bellemore and Ron Hainsey each had a team high three blocked shots.
• Jiri Tlusty had a team high five hits.
• The Canes won 57% of the game's faceoffs.