Recap: Canes Drop Road Finale in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA - The Carolina Hurricanes dropped a 4-3 decision to the Philadelphia Flyers in their final road game of the season.
Klas Dahlbeck scored his first goal of the season, Sebastian Aho scored his 29th goal of the season and Jordan Staal tied the game late in the third period, but Jakub Voracek netted the game-winner with just under six minutes left in regulation.
Here are five takeaways from tonight's road finale.

One
For the second game in a row, the Hurricanes squared off against a team fighting for its playoff life. The Flyers, just as the Panthers were on Monday, were a desperate bunch, and the Hurricanes had trouble matching their energy early. Head coach Bill Peters talked on Wednesday about finding a way to become engaged in the game from puck drop, setting the tempo of the game from the get-go. Despite the team scoring first and taking a lead into the second period, the Flyers were the better club early.
"They were doing everything they could to get that win. I think we weren't quite there," Aho said. "We didn't have the same level."
Scott Darling was a big reason why the Hurricanes took a 2-1 lead to the locker room after 20 minutes. He was tested early and often and was sharp.
"He kept us in the game. We weren't very good," head coach Bill Peters said. "I thought we got better and more competitive as the game went along, but Darls gave us a chance to build a game."
Two
Twenty-nine.
With one game left to play in the season, Aho is one goal away from scoring 30 in his sophomore season.
Aho scored his 29th goal of the season tonight, reclaiming the lead for the Hurricanes just 14 seconds after the Flyers tied it at one in the first. Aho was circling behind the net when Valentin Zykov's shot was just off the mark. Aho scooped up the puck and backhanded it in off Brian Elliott's head, a crafty bounce mixed with just the right amount of luck.

"It was kind of a lucky bounce," Aho said. "I saw a little hole there and tried to make a quick shot. I got lucky."
Three
Three goals were scored in the first 20 minutes of the game, but if you got up to get a snack, you might have missed all three, which were scored in a 67-second span.
It was Klas Dahlbeck striking first in a 4-on-4 scenario, beating Brian Elliott with a simple wrist shot for his first goal of the season.

"It's not something I've been thinking about too much, but it's always fun to score a goal," Dahlbeck said. "It's very frustrating that we seem to let up in the third periods and can't win games."
"It's a reward for staying with it and being a good pro," Peters said. "He's got a heavy, hard shot."
Then, Michael Raffl banged in a loose puck at the top of the crease to tie the game at one. Just 14 seconds later, it was Aho putting the Canes back on top, 2-1.
Four
Typically, it's the Hurricanes limiting their opponents' shot total. Tonight, it was the opposite, as the Canes managed just 22 shots on goal, one more than the fewest they've recorded in a single game this season.
And that, according to the locker room, was more about what the Canes were unable to do than what the Flyers did.
"I didn't think we moved the puck all that well, especially early," Peters said. "We made it hard on ourselves."
"I think they spent a lot of time in our zone," Dahlbeck said. "I think they had a good forecheck, and we had a hard time breaking out of it."
"We didn't defense well today, and if you don't defense well, you don't get opportunities to score goals at the other end," Aho said. "That was the problem today."

Five
This season will be dissected more and ultimately put to rest next week, a bitterly disappointing end to an 82-game campaign that once held so much promise and hope. Before that is game 82, a chance for the Hurricanes to end on as much of a positive note as there can be given the circumstances.
"We've got to do it right," Aho said. "In the last game, we want to play well and do it right, the way we want to do it."
"We've got to really come together as a group and finish this off," Dahlbeck said. "Tonight is not the way we play to our identity. Everybody in this room knows we can do a lot better, even though they are in a playoff hunt and we're not. We're a better team than we showed tonight."
Up Next
It's curtains on the 2017-18 regular season when the Hurricanes host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.