RALEIGH Like eight days earlier in the City of Brotherly Love, the Hurricanes and the Flyers engaged in a goal-filled second period Sunday at PNC Arena. But unlike that 6-3 Philadelphia win Oct. 22, the second meeting this season between the teams was decided in third period and again the Flyers came away with two points thanks to 4-3 win.It looked like Carolina might get its chance to go ahead on the power play in a 3-3 game when Hurricanes winger Sebastian Aho drew a penalty at 7:29 of the third. Instead, it was the Flyers who would score the game-winner down a man.After Carolina center Victor Rask failed to control the puck in the Philadelphia end, the Flyers pushed up ice shorthanded and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare found Brandon Manning alone in the slot. Manning didn’t miss, beating Cam Ward stick side high 31 seconds into the power play to push the Flyers ahead for good with 12 minutes left.”That’s on us. That’s us,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “That’s 3-3 at home; it doesn’t matter if you’re at home or on the road, but it’s 3-3 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.”Carolina (2-4-2) dominated for most of the period, specifically after Manning put them down a goal, outshooting Philadelphia 12-3 in the third after the Flyers held the edge in both the first (13-9) and second (12-8).”We made a good push at the start of the third,” forward Jeff Skinner said. “Shorthanded goal in third, tough break. … It’s not many times you give up shorthanded goals, and you don’t want to be giving them up in big spots.”The first period saw the teams exchange chances, but it wasn’t until 2:03 was remaining in the opening frame that someone scored.After Viktor Stalberg was unable to clear the zone up the boards, Flyers defenseman Shane Gostisbehere got his second goal of the season both have come against Carolina when his wrist shot from the point found its way into the net past Ward for a 1-0 Philadelphia lead. But Stalberg would make amends. After the teams exchanged goals Justin Faulk and Skinner scoring for Carolina, while Radko Gudas got his first of the year for Philadelphia the speedy Stalberg poked the puck past Flyers rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov, then turned on the jets to get in the clear and beat Michal Neuvirth between the pads at 11:58 of the second to push Carolina ahead, 3-2.It was Stalberg’s second breakaway of the night, the earlier one nullifying a Flyers power play by drawing a penalty in the first period.But the Flyers (4-5-1) set up the deciding third period when captain Claude Giroux was left alone in the slot to one-time a shot past Ward, making it 3-3 with less than three minutes remaining in the middle stanza.”Same story. We scored enough to win … three’s the magic number typically in this league as you get going,” Peter said. “So we had enough there, but we’re giving up too much. It’s not a way to win, it’s not a recipe for success short term or long term.”The teams went back and forth in the second period to set up the deciding final period.The Hurricanes quickly erased Philadelphia’s 1-0 lead when a Faulk wrister from the blue line made its way through a crowded net front and past Neuvirth 61 seconds into the second for his third goal of the season.But then another shot from the point got Philadelphia its second goal of the game. Defenseman Radko Gudas one-timed the puck as it came up the boards, and it went through a maze of bodies and Ward to make it 2-1. Skinner, who was the driving force in all three of Carolina’s goals in Sunday’s win over the Rangers, got his fifth goal of the season at 10:13 of the second to knot the game, 2-2. Defenseman Ron Hainsey earned his second assist of the night and season with his cross-ice feed that found Skinner to Neuwirth’s left. Skinner shot and the puck trickled through the Flyers goalie.Giroux’s goal then set up the third, with Manning’s shorthanded goal proving to be the back breaker.”We gave them a couple,” Carolina center Jordan Staal said. “Obviously that last one hurt. It’s never easy giving up a shorthanded, especially late in the game for them to go up. So that one hurt a bit.” Notes: Rask extended his point streak to eight games with his secondary assist on Skinner’s goal … Defenseman Klas Dahlbeck sat out the entire third period, with Peters deciding to rotate his other five D. “It’s too many times we’re losing shifts on a consistent basis with certain people on the ice and it can’t continue,” Peters said when asked about Dahlbeck’s benching. … Skinner missed the game in Detroit but has points in his last five games and all but one of the seven he’s played this season. Sunday’s two-point effort was his fourth multipoint game of the season, and he has 11 points (five goals, six assists) on the campaign. His 1.57 points per game were behind only Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, who is averaging 1.67 points per game through three appearances, following Carolina’s loss.10353
