Postgame RAV4: Flyers earn point in OT loss to Canes

The Philadelphia Flyers lost a 4-3 overtime decision to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Saturday evening. Officials overturned a would-be winning goal for Philadelphia in OT. At 4:41 of sudden death, Carolina's Seth Jarvis scored the game-winner.

Logan Stankoven (1st), Taylor Hall (1st), Jordan Staal (1st) and Jarvis (3rd) tallied for Carolina. Owen Tippett (PPG, 1st), Bobby Brink (1st) and Travis Sanheim (1st) tallied regulation goals for the Flyers.

A goaltender interference ruling against Sanheim at 4:06 of overtime cost Brink a second goal and cost the Flyers their first win of the season.

Frederik Andersen earned the win for Carolina with 20 saves on 23 shots. Samuel Ersson looked strong, stopping 36 of the first 39 shots he faced. Unfortunately, the 40th Carolina shot faced, Jarvis' sudden death winner, forced the Flyers to settle for one point.

The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. They were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers spent much of the opening stanza either killing penalties or going into bend-don't-break mode at 5-on-5. Philadelphia took three minor penalties in the period.

The Noah Cates line provided some stabilizing shifts. Bobby Brink in particular had excellent jump in his skates. At the other end of the ice. Ersson made several big saves.

Finally, when the Flyers earned their first power play of the game, they turned it into a 1-0 lead at 19:38. From the point, Jamie Drysdale fed a pass to Travor Zegras. From there, Zegras sent the puck to Travis Konecny. The Konency shot from near the right dot missed the net but went directly to Tippett at the other side of the net. Tippett made no mistake. Konecny and Zegras (first assist as a Flyer) earned the helpers.

Shots: Hurricanes 16 - Flyers 6
Faceoffs: Flyers 14 - Hurricanes 12

Notable:

* The Flyers took a lead to intermission but the excessive penalties and the time of puck possession disparity (12:00 for Carolina. 7:20 for the Flyers) spoke to the overall flow of the period in the Hurricanes' favor.

* The Flyers' penalty kill stepped up to kill off minors to Konecny (interference at 8:09), Egor Zamula (tripping at 11:08) and Cates (slashing at 16:14). Finally with Carolina's Jalen Chatfied in the penalty box in the final minute of the period, Philadelphia broke through for the game's first goal.

* Travis Sanheim led the Flyers with 9:42 of ice time (including 4:02 of penalty killing time).

* Sean Couturier won seven of nine face offs.

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers' process was much better in the middle stanza. The results, however, were not. Carolina cashed in on transition plays and their forecheck to strike for three goals to one for Philly. The Hurricanes took a 3-2 lead to the second intermission.

Nevertheless, the Flyers put together stretches where they dictated the play. The Foerster-Cates-Brink line led the way. Meanwhile, the Flyers 4th line also had some quality shifts. This was especially true for Nikita Grebenkin in his Flyers' debut.

Carolina forged a 1-1 tie at 3:46. The sequence started with a 3-on-2 transition rush for Carolina from their own end of the ice. Rapid puck movement started by Alexander Nikishin and a low shot from Jason Blake produced a rebound that went directly to Stankoven at the back door.

The Cates line struck to grab a 2-1 lead at 6:18. Grebenkin finished a shift by keeping a play alive before skating off to be replaced by Foerster. Meanwhile, after receiving a pass from Cates, Brink unleashed a perfect shot that beat Andersen high to the glove save into the top corner of the net. The assists went to Cates and Grebenkin (who was sitting on the bench by the time Brink scored the goal).

Carolina made it a 2-2 game at 9:07. This was another transition rush with numbers. Eric Robinson threaded the puck to Taylor Hall driving the net. Hall, with just one hand on his stick, directed it home off his backhand.

At the 18:30 mark, the Hurricanes grabbed a 3-2 lead. The Canes won battles along the boards to make it happen. Finally, Jordan Martinook came around from behind the net and directed the puck to Staal to stash home.

Shots: Hurricanes 12 (28 overall) - Flyers 12 (18 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 10 (32 overall) - Hurricanes 9 (36 overall)

Notable:

*It goes without saying when a team gives up three goals in a period that it wasn't a "clean" frame in terms of 200-foot awareness. Nevertheless, this frame saw some stretches where the Flyers had the Hurricanes on their heels.

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Ersson stepped up repeatedly to keep the Flyers within a goal. Much like the first period, the Flyers had trouble generating any sort of a sustained attack. However, Carolina was unable to pull away.

At 11:42, Chatfield took his second trip of the game to the penalty box for tripping. The Flyers were unable to convert this one into a tying power play goal.

Fortunately for the Flyers, the Cates line wasn't done lifting the team on its shoulders. At the 16:00 mark, Philadelphia got the game to a 3-3 tie after a relentless forechecking shift by Cates' line. Finally, from the deep center slot, Sanheim wired the puck into the net. The assists went to Brink and Foerster.

Shots: Hurricanes 12 (39 overall) - Flyers 5 (23 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 14 - Panthers 12

Notable:

* The Foerster-Cates-Brink line put on a forechecking clinic on the sequence that led up to the tying goal.

* After being charged with 22 giveaways in the Carolina game, the Flyers shaved off five in regulation on Saturday. They still gave up too many counterattacks (and paid the price at times) but it was a baby step forward. In terms of bringing the puck through the neutral zone and establishing offensive zone possession -- except for the Cates line -- the Flyers still struggled for most of the first and third periods.

OVERTIME SYNOPSIS

The Flyers thought they won the game at 4:06 as Brink put the puck in the net. The initial on-ice ruling was a goal. However, Sanheim made contact with Andersen while skating through the crease.

The Hurricanes' goalie initiated the contact. However, Sanheim was not pushed into the goalkeeper. The NHL Rule Book states that incidental contact in the crease, even if the goalie initiates it, should be ruled no goal unless the attacking team player is pushed into the netminder and cannot avoid contact.

At 4:43, on the lone official overtime shot by either team, Carolina won. Sebastian Aho teed up a one-timer for Jarvis, who ripped the puck into the net from the left circle outside the hash marks. Shayne Gostisbehere got the second assist.

Final faceoffs were 38-31 Carolina. Couturier led the Flyers with 11 wins on 20 draws.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Travis Konecny – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov
Christian Dvorak– Trevor Zegras – Owen TIppett
Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nikita Grebenkin – Jett Luchanko – Garnet Hathaway

Nick Seeler – Travis Sanheim
Egor Zamula – Jamie Drysdale
Adam Ginning – Noah Juulsen

Samuel Ersson
[Dan Vladar]

Scratches: Rodrigo Abols (healthy), Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), Dennis Gilbert (healthy).

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Puck possession.

Carolina has been the NHL's best puck possession team for much of the 2020s. Saturday's game was no exception. The Flyers did a good job of hanging tough. However, the Hurricanes had the puck much more than the Flyers did overall.

2. The Cates Line.

The trio of Cates centering Foerster and Brink was often the most effective Philadelphia line last season whether they scored or not. They've picked right up where they left off. On an individual basis, Brink played one of the best games of his career on Saturday night.

3. The Drysdale factor.

Drysdale skated 23:08. He's still looking for his first shot on goal of the young season. However, although he wasn't credited with an assist, Drysdale was a key cog in the eventual Tippett power play goal.

4. Drawing and converting power plays.

The Flyers won the special teams battle on this night. Carolina won the game on even strength strikes.