Carolina Hurricanes: Takeaways from the Win Over the Flyers

The Carolina Hurricanes went to Philadelphia with a chance to move up in the standings. While the Hurricanes did not move up in the Metropolitan Division, they did leave Philadelphia two points richer and managed to close out the season with a win.

The Carolina Hurricanes have secured the top Wild Card spot in the Metropolitan Division with a win over Philadelphia last night. In order to have claimed the 3rd spot in the Division from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Hurricanes needed for two things to happen: the New York Rangers to overcome the Penguins in regulation time, and a win over Philadelphia. The Rangers went on to defeat Pittsburgh in overtime, but the Hurricanes were able to trounce the Flyers in regulation time.

The Hurricanes will now face the Washington Capitals in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They head into the playoffs on a high note after a tight 4-3 win over the Flyers last night.

The Hurricanes made solid improvements in many areas of the game last night, especially on offense. Today, we break down last night’s matchup period-by-period, and take a look at what the Hurricanes did well, what they could improve on, and what they need to bring to the table to ensure another deep playoff run.

1st Period Takeaways

Scoring

The Carolina Hurricanes flew out of the gates against the Philadelphia Flyers last night. Warren Foegele opened up the scoring midway through the first period, followed by Justin Faulk 2 minutes and 29 seconds later. Shortly thereafter, Oskar Lindblom beat Curtis McElhinney to cut the deficit in half. Teuvo Teravainen answered the phone within minutes, propelling the Hurricanes to a 3-1 lead heading into the second period.

Flyers’ Defense

The Philadelphia Flyers ran with a 7-defensemen lineup tonight, but still struggled to defend in their own zone. Flyers’ rookie netminder Carter Hart seemed to be rattled early on by a few loose-puck chances on his doorstep, but would redeem his shoddy early-game play by following up with a tremendous 2nd and 3rd period performance.

Hurricanes’ Defense

The Carolina Hurricanes had a few defensive missteps in the 1st period, one of which led to Oskar Lindblom’s backhand goal against McElhinney in the latter stages of the first period. Lindblom was relatively untouched in front of McElhinney as he shifted the puck to his backhand to lift it over McElhinney’s left shoulder. This would kickstart a potential comeback by the Flyers in the 2nd and 3rd periods.

2nd Period Takeaways

Flyers’ Offense

The Philadelphia Flyers began the 2nd period with two back-to-back goals in the first seven minutes of the period. Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier both scored in the second to tie the game and lay the foundation for a potential comeback.

Staal’s Game-Winning Goal

The dreams of a 2nd period comeback for the Flyers would be short-lived, however, as Dougie Hamilton found Jordan Staal with a beautiful pass in the slot that Staal rocketed past Carter Hart. The Philadelphia Flyers still managed to keep the puck in the offensive end for most of the 2nd period, but McElhinney and the Hurricanes’ defensive corps remained stout.

Smart Retaliation

Philadelphia Flyers forward Ryan Hartman took quite a few penalties in quick succession roughly midway through the 2nd period. After being called for interfering with Warren Foegele, Hartman threw an unnecessary cross-check on Foegele whilst heading to the penalty box.

This errant cross-check earned him a 10-minute Game Misconduct Penalty on top of his two minor penalties for interference and roughing, resulting in a total of 14 penalty mintues. Foegele did not retaliate, and chose to continue skating in the opposite direction, affording the Carolina Hurricanes a long powerplay.

Carter Hart

Jordan Staal’s lone goal in the 2nd period was the Hurricanes’ final goal of the game, but it wasn’t for lack of trying,. Carter Hart, after turning in a relatively lukewarm performance in the 1st period, showed up to play in the 2nd. Hart turned aside 15 of 16 shots in the 2nd period, which helped Philadelphia nearly stage a 2nd period comeback.

Two of these saves were absolute robberies against Lucas Wallmark and Nino Niederreiter. Hart remained solid heading into the third period, which saw the Hurricanes only taking one shot on goal.