Flyers fall in final minute as their struggles without Ersson continue originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers came close to scoring at least a point Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
But they couldn’t survive an untimely long stay in the defensive zone and lost to the Hurricanes, 6-4.
Martin Necas scored the game-winner for Carolina with 31 seconds remaining after wearing the Flyers down for more than a minute and a half. The Flyers were stuck with tired skaters on the ice as Necas collected a rebound in traffic.
The Hurricanes iced the game into an empty net.
Travis Konecny led the way for the Flyers with four points (two goals, two assists). Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost also scored goals for the Flyers (4-8-1), who began a tough three-game road trip.
Twenty-nine seconds after Frost tied the Flyers at 3-3 early in the third period, Jack Roslovic gave Carolina the lead again. Konecny’s second goal tied it at 4-4, but the Flyers were outshot 27-6 over the final two periods.
John Tortorella’s club has the fewest points in the Eastern Conference.
The Hurricanes (9-2-0) own the NHL’s longest winning streak at seven games. They dominated their opponents 33-16 during this series.
The Flyers return to Carolina in a little over two weeks for the second of three regular season meetings.
• In net for injured Samuel ErssonAleksei Kolosov fought and converted 29 saves on 34 shots.
Three of the goals he allowed came on rebounds and loose pucks around the net. A few tough bounces and the Hurricanes are just relentless in shooting shots and getting to the puck.
Carolina turned a 1-1 game into a 3-1 lead by scoring twice in less than a minute in the second period.
The Flyers struggled with their young defensive duo of Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula. Andrae, a 22-year-old who has impressed since his call-up 10 days ago, lost his footing in the cover on Roslovic’s 4-3 goal. He finished with a score of minus-2 in 14:09 minutes. Zamula, 24, was also minus-2 in just 10:58 minutes.
Bobby Brink was one of the young forwards who got caught on the ice for the Hurricanes’ game-winning goal. The 23-year-old winger remained scoreless with a minus-3 rating.
The Flyers were more opportunistic offensively, but they still had to defend a lot.
“I think we’ve gotten better defensively around our goalie because we practice a lot in games,” Tortorella said Monday. “We’re just there too often.”
The Flyers fell to 0-8-0 in their last eight games that Ersson didn’t start. Their last win without Ersson in goal was March 2, when Felix Sandstrom beat the Senators 4-2 last season.
Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov went 2-1-0 with a 1.35 goals-against average and .944 save percentage against the Flyers. The 25-year-old stopped 12 of the Flyers’ 16 shots Tuesday night.
• Some notable positives for the Flyers:
They took a contender all the way on the road without their No. 1 goalie and a top pair defender.
And they saw an offensive life. The Tortorella club had scored only four goals (including one into an empty net) in their previous three matches. Against one of the stingiest defensive clubs in the NHL, the Flyers matched that total.
Tippett (one goal, one assist) and Sean Couturier (two assists) played multi-point games. This could be a promising boost for Tippett.
Frost’s goal was his first of the season.
“I know I can be a good player” the 25-year-old center said Monday. “You want to be in this place, I want to contribute to the team. I have to go, I feel like I need a game, something. We’ll see.”
Matvei Michkov ended a mini four-game point drought when he picked up an assist on Konecny’s 5-on-3 power play goal that sparked the game’s first-period scoring.
The 19-year-old winger played 13:57 (2:52 in the third period).
• The road trip continues Thursday when the Flyers visit the Lightning (7:30 p.m. ET/ESPN+, Hulu).
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Single broadcast | RSS | Watch on YouTube
