Game 10 Recap: Flyers 4, Hurricanes 3 (OT)

The Carolina Hurricanes battled back twice in this game to tie it up, but the Philadelphia Flyers prevailed in overtime on a shot by Danny Briere that hit the post and bounced in the net as the home team got by the Canes, 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.

The OT loss gives the Canes a 5-4-1 overall record and makes them a respectable 2-1-1 on this road trip with two more games to play, on Monday and Tuesday nights.

The Hurricanes jumped out to a fast lead in this game as Jiri Tlusty pounced on a rebound off of a Joe Corvo shot to make it 1-0 Carolina, just 17 seconds into the game. Corvo took a blast from the point after a faceoff win in the Philadelphia zone by Eric Staal

Staal's assist extended his scoring streak to eight straight games.

Alexander Semin and the Carolina captain almost connected shortly after that and the Canes seemed to have all the momentum on their side, but at 6:21 into the game, a hit by Tim Wallace changed the flow of the game.

Wallace was given a five minute boarding major for a high hit on Tye McGinn and was ejected from the game. The Hurricanes were able to kill off the penalty, some of it four on four and some of it a two man Flyers advantage thanks to other infractions, but the momentum of the game had turned.

Our SBN affiliate Broad Street Hockey looks closely at the hit and projects that it is not suspension worthy. What do you think?

The Flyers tied the score on a tipped shot by Brayden Schenn later in the opening period and then took a 2-1 lead just a minute and change into the second when Mike Knuble knocked an ill advised Eric Staal pass to a wide open Matt Read.

Read, who has been red hot and leads the Flyers in scoring, beat Cam Ward top shelf for his fifth goal of the season.

Jeff Skinner came very close to tying the game midway through the second period when he hit the post on a good chance, but was persistent and beat Ilya Bryzgalov with traffic in front of the net on a shot shortly afterward to make it 2-2.

Skinner had seven shots in the game and led the team in that department along with Corvo, who also had seven shots on goal.

The Canes barely had a chance to celebrate that goal though. Just 17 seconds later, Jakub Voracek beat Tim Gleason down the ice by a step and chipped a puck past Ward on a pass from Brayden Schenn.

The Flyers took their 3-2 lead into the third period, but the Canes pressured the Flyers and finally knocked one in the net at 7:58 into the period on another Corvo blast which somehow found it's way into the net.

The Carolina coaching staff wanted more traffic in front of the net and they got it in spades this game as there were a plethora of bodies in front of the Flyers goalie, especially on that play.

The two teams battled back and forth the rest of the way and both clubs had good chances to win it in regulation. The Flyers had the best chance with just seconds left as Read found himself wide open in front of Ward, but the goalie made a clutch stop to send the game into overtime.

At 1:47 into the extra period, Danny Briere cut across the middle in the slot area and hit the post on a shot that bounced in the net off of Ward for the game winner.

The Canes will next face the Islanders on Monday night.

Game Notes:

• As stated previously, Corvo had a goal and an assist, seven shots on goal, played over 20 minutes, had only one giveaway, and finished with a (+2). After the game he said that he was looking to make a statement to the coaching staff that he wanted to play the next game. The defenseman had been a healthy scratch the last three games.
• The Carolina blueline scored again this game, making it seven of the last eight games they have scored. Coach Muller encourages them to jump into the play at will, but it does allow for some open chances against Ward at the other end.
• The penalty killers did very well in this game and killed off two minutes of 5 on 4, 1:30 of 5 on 3, and 30 seconds of 4 on 3. The powerplay went 0-3, but had some good moments.
• The Canes outshot the Flyers 33-32. Cam Ward looked solid again and made several tough stops.
  
• Alexander Semin had a team high three takeaways.
  
• Eric Staal won 61% of his faceoffs, including the early one leading to a goal. That is the second faceoff he has won this season which directly led to a goal. The rest of the centers did not fare as well. Jordan Staal, (35%), Jussi Jokinen, (58%), Tim Brent, (38%).
• Again, Justin Faulk led all skaters with 25:34 of ice time.