Brandon Manning lifts Flyers to victory

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Philadelphia Flyers have been living on the edge this season. They're tied with the New York Rangers for most goals scored in the NHL (35), but they also have allowed the most in the League (38).
After two straight one-goal losses, the Flyers found a way to win a back-and-forth game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. Brandon Manning scored the game-winning goal shorthanded in the third period to lift Philadelphia to a 4-3 victory at PNC Arena.

Michal Neuvirth made 26 saves for the Flyers (4-5-1). Philadelphia was coming off back-to-back 5-4 home losses, to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday and to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
"We're playing better as a team and we're pretty excited to keep rolling," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who had a goal and an assist.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare set up Manning's goal by winning possession of the puck in the neutral zone and making a cross-ice pass to Manning, whose shot beat Cam Ward high to the short side at 8:00.
"Just the way the puck came across, with their defenseman coming, I don't think I would have got it off if I hung on to it, so I put it on net quickly," said Manning, who has two goals this season, each against Carolina. "I saw a bit of room over the blocker and I was lucky enough to find it."
Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist for Carolina (2-4-2).
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere's power-play goal with 2:03 left in the first period gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. He corralled Hurricanes forward Viktor Stalberg's clearing attempt at the blue line before sending a wrist shot through traffic. The goal was Philadelphia's seventh with the man-advantage in the past four games.

Carolina tied it 1-1 at 1:01 of the second period when defenseman Justin Faulk scored the first of five goals in the period. With Lee Stempniak setting a screen, Faulk's high snap shot beat Neuvirth below the cross bar for his third goal.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead when Radko Gudas scored on a wrist shot from just inside the blue line at the right point. Claude Giroux's screen helped the shot to sail past Ward's glove at 7:07.

The Hurricanes tied the game 2-2 on Skinner's fifth goal at 10:13. Defenseman Ron Hainsey earned his second assist of the game with a centering pass through a scrambling Flyers defense.

Carolina went ahead 3-2 when Stalberg won a puck battle with Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov in the neutral zone before beating Neuvirth through the pads on a breakaway at 11:58.

Giroux scored with 2:46 left in the second to make it 3-3 following a Hurricanes turnover in the neutral zone. Wayne Simmonds got in on the forecheck and passed to Giroux for a one-timer in the slot.
"Same story. We scored enough to win," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "We had enough there, but we're giving up too much, and that's not a recipe for success short term or long term."

#

Goal of the game

Manning's game-winner came with the momentum shifting to the Hurricanes. But with no defender in sight, he took a wrist shot from the top of the left circle and changed the Flyers' fortunes. "That's on us," Peters said. "It's 3-3 at home in the third period, and you're on the power play. That's a pretty good scenario for a power play that's been good."

#

Save of the game

Neuvirth's best came in the first minute of the game. Skinner quickly gathered a puck behind the net and tried to stuff it in on the right goal post. Neuvirth got his left pad to the post, but when Skinner elevated his shot, the goaltender got his glove out along the goal line to deny him at 00:47.

Unsung moment of the game

Early in the third period, Hurricanes forward Joakim Nordstom came charging between the circles, primed to finish Sebastian Aho's rebound into an open net. But Flyers forward Nick Cousins got back to tie up Nordstrom's stick enough for Neuvirth to get a piece of a weak shot.

#

Highlight of the game

On the Flyers' third goal, Simmonds went hard on the forecheck, took a peek out to the slot and made a blind backhand pass to Giroux for a one-timer inside the far post.

#

They said it

"We got good efforts, I think, in all areas of our game. You have to have that, especially on a night where it's a back-to-back and it's a 5 p.m. start. You have to have contributions from all parts of your lineup and all areas of your game, and that's what we got." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol
"Coming into the game, I felt more confident. I wanted to build on my performance last night. It wasn't easy to give up three goals, but I battled hard. It's a big win for me to grind it out like that. I should feel better about myself." -- Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth, who played 37:58 in relief of Steve Mason in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday
"We don't have 18 guys going right now. We need 18 guys to find a way to make a positive contribution in the game. It's as simple as that. We're losing shifts on a consistent basis with certain people on the ice, and it can't continue."-- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters
"Our unit gives up the shorthanded goal. That's a huge deflator for us. You'd like to get some momentum and carry it through the game, at least. At best, you get a goal to go ahead. The opposite happened." -- Hurricanes forward Lee Stempniak

#

Need to know

Flyers forward Boyd Gordon and defenseman Nick Schultz each was a healthy scratch after playing Saturday. They were replaced in the lineup by Cousins and defenseman Andrew MacDonald. ... Giroux extended his NHL-leading point streak to nine games, and Rask pushed his streak to eight games. ...The Flyers have scored 19 goals in the second period through 10 games. ... Philadelphia won for the first time this season when being tied entering the third period (1-4-0).

#

What's next

Flyers: Home against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: At the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, FS-CR, NHL.TV)