Gostisbehere scores in OT, Hurricanes edge Flyers for first victory

PHILADELPHIA -- Shayne Gostisbehere scored a power-play goal with 2:09 remaining in overtime, and the Carolina Hurricanes won their first game of the season 3-2 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

The defenseman was at the top of the left face-off circle when he one-timed a pass from Jackson Blake past Flyers goalie Joseph Woll.

"I was just trying to put it there, and thankfully it went in," Gostisbehere said. "It wasn't what we were trying to do, we were on the wrong side, but at the end of the day, just got to make some plays and get the puck to the net."

Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist, and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for Carolina (1-1-1), which lost 5-2 at the Washington Capitals on Friday. Pyotr Kochetkov, in his first game since Dec. 20, made 16 saves. The goalie missed the remainder of last season following surgery for a lower-body injury.

"From start to finish, I thought we were good," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Especially (since) we played last night and that didn't go the way we wanted it to. I thought we got to our game right away, first shift, which was nice. I thought we had the bulk of the play. I liked that we had to stick with it. Power play came up big, penalty kill was great, so that's what it needed to do tonight. But I liked the whole process."

Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov scored for Philadelphia, which has lost its first three games to start the season (0-1-2). Woll made 37 saves.

"There's some chunks of the game that you like and some chunks that you don't," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "The last few games we're taking some dumb penalties too. ... It was too mixed bag for me."

It was a rematch of the Eastern Conference Second Round series between the teams that the Hurricanes won in four games.

Aho put the Hurricanes ahead 1-0 just 10 seconds into the game. Svechnikov rimmed the puck behind the Flyers net before William Carrier centered it to Aho in the high slot, and his shot went off Woll's glove and in. It was the fastest goal to start a game by a Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers player since Kevin Dineen scored 10 seconds into a game Dec. 3, 1990.

"Obviously it's nice to get a hot start and start the game the right way," Aho said. "But honestly, I felt today we were playing our game the full 60-plus minutes."

Brind'Amour said he could feel a sense of relief on the bench with the early lead. Especially in the second game of a back-to-back, it was the ideal start for a team looking for its first win.

"They know what we have to do," he said. "I don't really have to say much, but at the same time you got to get into it, and I think tonight certainly we were."

Tippett tied it 1-1 at 8:03, putting the puck through a maze of players in front with a snap shot from the slot.

Michkov put the Flyers ahead 2-1 at 7:20 of the second period. Travis Konecny outmuscled Jesperi Kotkaniemi on a puck in the Hurricanes zone and centered it for Michkov alone in front of the net, and he lifted the shot over a sliding Kochetkov.

Following Michkov's goal, however, the Flyers had just two shots the remainder of the period and were outshot 20-8 for the remaining 35:31 of the game.

The Flyers had two power plays during that stretch, including one that carried into the first 34 seconds of overtime. But, in the entirety of the game, they went 0-for-4 on the man-advantage with four shots on goal and just one during their 4-on-3 power play in overtime.

"You have to get the puck," Tocchet said. "You have to execute plays. Our execution is not good this year. It really isn't. And if you don't execute, you're not going to get shots. So we have to execute."

Aho scored his second of the game to tie it 2-2 at 4:59 of the third period on the power play from above the hashmarks in the center of the offensive zone.

NOTES: Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen left the game after playing one shift in the third period because of an undisclosed injury. Tocchet said Ristolainen would be evaluated Sunday. ... Carolina won its opening road game for the ninth straight season, matching the NHL record held by Philadelphia (1980-81 to 1988-89). ... It's the first time the Flyers have lost the first three games of a season since opening 0-2-2 in 2014-15. ... Carolina forward Jordan Martinook played his 800th NHL game.