Flyers can't finish job in OT loss in Game 2 of Eastern 2nd Round

RALEIGH, N.C. -- "It's got to go in."

Travis Konecny had the puck on his stick, in the middle of the offensive zone, just above the face-off circles.

The Philadelphia Flyers forward was 1-on-1 with Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen with 4:45 remaining in overtime.

Konecny fired a wrist shot, believing this would be the moment he'd win Game 2 and even the Eastern Conference Second Round series.

But Andersen got a piece of the puck with his blocker and play continued.

"We played good tonight," Konecny said. "Like I said, I should have finished that. It should have been over and we're going home with a win."

Instead, the Flyers are going home down 2-0 in the best-of-7 series after Taylor Hall scored with 1:06 remaining in overtime.

Game 3 will be at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC). That gives the Flyers some time to dwell on the missed opportunities that could have allowed them to travel home in a very different situation.

Among those was getting the start they wanted but failing build on it. Another was scoring on just one of the seven power plays they were awarded. And they carried play during overtime, outshooting the Hurricanes 15-8.

"But at the end of the day, we still lost," defenseman Travis Sanheim said.

The beginning of the day looked good. Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead just 4:41 into the game, scoring twice in 39 seconds after not scoring in the first period of its first seven Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Jamie Drysdale made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 4:02. Andersen poked a loose puck into the high slot, but Drysdale skated into it and quickly shot past the goalie's blocker.

Then at 4:41, Sean Couturier positioned himself at the top of the crease and one-timed a pass from Carl Grundstrom to make it 2-0.

It was a 180-degree change from the first period of Game 1, when the Flyers were overwhelmed by the Hurricanes' aggressive forecheck and fell behind 2-0 just 7:30 into the game.

"I think we had our legs a little bit more (in Game 2)," Sanheim said. "Quicker on pucks, making better decisions, harder on the forecheck and turning over pucks, and it allowed us to get more zone time and generate chances."

They couldn't generate much on their power play, however, managing three shots on their seven opportunities. That included one shot on an overtime power play after Andrei Svechnikov was called for hooking at 6:29.

"You got to make a play," Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. "We had three times where we had, if we just get it over their stick, guy gets a tap in. You got to make a play. ... We just can't make that play. It was good, the first couple early. I thought we had some looks there, but a couple times we passed up a shot. But that's just confidence and stuff like that. So we'll figure that out."

After getting outscored 2-0 and outshot 33-18 following their early lead, the Flyers got back to their game in overtime, getting 10 of the first 11 shots on goal.

But the end result was also a 180 from their previous overtime playoff game, a 1-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the first round. Cam York scored the series-clinching goal in that game despite the Flyers being outplayed.

"We went in there and we were talking, 'We've been here,'" Konecny said. "We've played in a big one that advanced us here, so be confident, want to make plays with the puck, back each other up when there's mistakes, and then we go from there."

Despite all their missed opportunities, the Flyers remain confident they can build on the ones they did take advantage of when the series shifts to Philadelphia.

"We've always thought, and we always believe, that we can play with these guys," Drysdale said. "Every regular-season game we were right there with them. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to come out with this one. There's definitely things we can take and learn, and we know how we need to play to be successful. Definitely (stinks), but we've got a few days here. Regroup, learn from it and come back harder at home."