Recap: Canes Erase Deficit but Fall to Flyers in OT

Analysis from Philadelphia
→ The Carolina Hurricanes erased a two-goal deficit after a slow start in Philadelphia but fell 4-3 to the Flyers in overtime. Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm and Jordan Staal tallied for the Canes, but Travis Konecny tied the game in the final minute of the third period and Brayden Schenn won it for the Flyers in 3-on-3 action.
"It was nice to get a point, but it would have been better with two," Staal said.
"It was a good response by the guys, a good character point," head coach Bill Peters said. "Obviously you saw a very tired hockey team out there tonight."

→ Tonight was a game of momentum swings, and goals were scored in bunches. A rested Philadelphia club took a 2-0 lead in the second period, the Hurricanes scored three straight goals to take a lead in the third period, and then the Flyers scored to tie the game late and win it in overtime.
"That's what you do in this league," Peters said of the Flyers taking advantage of a tired Canes club early. And then the comeback? "They have unbelievable character."
On the Flyers' 42nd shot of the game, just as their power play had expired, Travis Konecny's centering feed bounced in off a skate to tie the game at three. Schenn then tallied 38 seconds into the overtime period to lift the Flyers.
"Philly played a real good game. We tried our best, but we looked a little tired today," Lindholm said.
→ Credit the Hurricanes: they didn't fold down despite not sparking much offense and being down a pair on the scoreboard in the second period.
"We started to come a little bit and started to skate better as it went along, and that's typically what happens when you play back-to-back," Peters said. "The adrenaline and passion that gets invested in the game comes through, and that's what happened with us tonight."
Past the midway point of the second period, Noah Hanifin shot the puck off the end boards right onto the stick of Jeff Skinner, who deposited the puck into the gaping cage, his fifth goal in his last five games. That brought the Hurricanes within a shot of tying the game, and they skated with moxie for the rest of the period.
Then, with 64 seconds left in the middle stanza, Victor Rask caused a disruption and won a battle behind the net and Phil Di Giuseppe fed Lindholm in the slot. What then came off Lindholm's stick can only be described as an absolute bullet of a shot, bar-down to tie the game at two.
"We know we can come back," Lindholm said. "We've got a good feeling here in the locker room. As soon as we got the first one, we felt we were coming more and more. We got the second one pretty quick before the break, so that was nice to go into the third with a tie game. We never gave up."
After erasing a two-goal deficit and tying the game at two heading into the third period, the Hurricanes had momentum. They had to kill a pair of early penalties, including 38 seconds of a two-man disadvantage, and were then rewarded with a power play of their own. On the man advantage, Aho's point shot got through to Mason, but he spit out a rebound. Elias Lindholm fed Jordan Staal with a tight tape-to-tape feed in the slot, and Staal finished to give the Canes the one-goal lead, 3-2.
With yet another primary assist, Lindholm, the team's leader in helpers, crossed the 30-mark for the first time in his career. He's also riding a seven-game point streak (3g, 5a).
"I just try to work hard every game," Lindholm said. "Now lately I've gotten a few bounces. It's nice seeing them go in."
"His compete is there each and every night. His compete is at a very high level, and he makes plays. He's playing in traffic, he's very physical and he's involved in every game," Peters said. "He's really rounding into an elite player right now."
→ Compared to the start the Hurricanes had last night - scoring just 29 seconds into the game and leading 2-0 after the first period - tonight's start in Philadelphia was less than ideal.
The Hurricanes looked sluggish and sloppy. Pucks were routinely stuck in skates, and the Canes were unable to generate much offensively and recorded just four shots on goal.
"There weren't a whole lot of legs moving and not a lot of smart plays being made," Staal said. "I think we kind of played into their neutral zone and they just kept countering. It was Wardo that kept it a game."
Meanwhile, defenseman Ivan Provorov scored his sixth goal of the season in the final minute of the period to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.
The start of the second period wasn't much better for the Hurricanes. The shift following the Canes' first power play of the game was a struggle. The team struggled to clear the puck and got hemmed in. They were able to change but unable to tilt the ice, and the Flyers took advantage when Dale Weise scooped up a loose puck in the slot and scored.
→ The Hurricanes will now work their way south to Florida, where they will face off with the Panthers on Tuesday.
"We've got to keep fighting," Lindholm said of his team, which is now 4-0-3 in their last seven games.