An epic second-period comeback was not enough to give the Flyers a win in their last regular-season game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon. Matt Read, Kimmo Timonen, Sean Couturier, and Wayne Simmonds (2) all scored for the Flyers, while Jeff Skinner (2), Eric Staal (2), and Manny Malhotra scored for Carolina. Skinner’s shootout goal propelled the Hurricanes to a 6-5 victory. Cal Heeter made his NHL debut for Philadelphia and stopped 32 of 38 shots, while Anton Khudobin stopped 39 of 44.
The afternoon was looking rather dismal after the first period, where Skinner scored just 2:07 into the game to give the Hurricanes an early lead. About six minutes later, Staal’s first of the day gave the ‘Canes a 2-1 lead less than ten minutes in. And about a minute and a half after that, Read got the Flyers on the board. However, by the time the first period ended, the Flyers were again down by two thanks to a goal from Manny Malhotra. The Hurricanes led in shots 13-11 in the first.
It didn’t look that much better for the Flyers when the second period began, as Staal’s second of the game came at :17 in, bringing the score to 4-1. It would take the Flyers another almost twelve minutes to get back on the board, with a Timonen powerplay goal from the point that cut the ‘Canes lead in half. Ten seconds later, Simmonds made it a 4-3 game, and at 15:32, Couturier’s unassisted goal gave the Flyers the first tie of the afternoon, which they took into the third period.
Both goalies appeared to have settled down as the third went on, but Skinner managed to get another past Heeter with less than five minutes left in the period. Again, it looked like the Flyers were not going to come away with a win, but Simmonds second of the game with just ten seconds left took the game to overtime.
With neither team capitalizing in extra time, the game went into a shootout. Akeson shot first for the Flyers and did not score. Eric Staal went for the 'Canes and got one past Heeter. Heeter stopped Skinner and Giroux scored on Khudobin, but Couturier failed to score and Carolina came away with the 6-5 win.
After the game, head coach Craig Berube said that his team played hard throughout the entire game and kept battling back, something he was pleased to see. He also mentioned that Akeson is being considered for the playoff roster, as he brings a heads up style of play to the game.
The Flyers will take on the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs, set to begin on Thursday night.
Scoring summary:
Jeff Skinner, CAR – 2:07, 1st – Riley Nash (A), Mike Komisarek (A)
Eric Staal, CAR – 8:31, 1st – Jiri Tlusty (A), Justin Faulk (A)
Matt Read, PHL – 9:51, 1st – Jason Akeson (A), Mark Streit (A)
Manny Malhotra – 12:32, 1st – Mike Komisarek (A)
Eric Staal, CAR – :17, 2nd – Jiri Tlusty (A), Justin Faulk (A)
Kimmo Timonen, PHL (PP) – 12:00, 2nd – Claude Giroux (A), Jake Voracek (A)
Wayne Simmonds, PHL – 12:10, 2nd – Tye McGinn (A)
Sean Couturier, PHL – 15:32, 2nd – unassisted
Jeff Skinner, CAR – 15:39, 3rd – Andrei Loktionov (A), Elias Lindholm (A)
Wayne Simmonds, PHL – 19:50, 3rd – unassisted
Penalty summary:
Brayden Schenn, PHL – 9:01, 2nd – holding
Ron Hainsey, CAR – 11:16, 2nd – hooking
Mark Streit, PHL – 16:51, 2nd – tripping
Brett Bellemore, CAR – 13:09, 3rd – slashing
Ron Hainsey, CAR – 13:09, 3rd – roughing
Scott Hartnell, PHL – 13:09, 3rd – five-minute major for spearing and game misconduct
Notes: Team awards were handed out prior to this afternoon’s game. Hart Memorial Award: Mason, Dupre Memorial Award: Voracek, Lindbergh Memorial Award: Raffl, Ashbee Trophy: Timonen, Toyota Cup: Giroux, Clarke Trophy/Team MVP: Giroux… Claude Giroux’s 86th point put him in third place in the league, just one point behind Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf… Giroux is now the highest-scoring NHLer over the last four years… Wayne Simmonds has reached a new career high of 29 goals… The Flyers will begin the first round of the playoffs against the New York Rangers on Thursday, April 17th.
