Game Recap: Canes turn it on in the 3rd to beat Philly 4-1

Martin Necas saw his goal streak end but the Canes roll along

Sebastian Aho and Jalen Chatfield each grabbed two points, Pyotr Kochetkov stayed solid in net, and the Carolina Hurricanes shook off a sluggish two periods to hammer the Philadelphia Flyers in the third period to win 4-1. The win moved the Canes into first place in both the Metro Division and the Eastern Conference.

Games against John Tortorella teams have always been rough for this squad. First when Torts was coaching Columbus and then with the move to Philly, his grinding style matched up against the intense style of the Canes seems to create some odd results. That was certainly the case through the first couple of periods.

The game did start off fast, though. Not even 30 seconds in, Jalen Chatfield threw a shot on net that seemed to ricochet off Jordan Martinook at first, but ultimately was just shot through a ton of players. It beat Flyers goale Ivan Fedotov to give the Canes a quick 1-0 lead.

The benefit of this game being on TNT meant that Canes fans were given a full breakdown of this goal during the First Intermission, and it included a ridiculous angle that showed just how screened Fedotov was.

That said, after that first goal the action really slogged down. The Canes had a power play that was cut short thanks the refs catching Andrei Svechnikov retaliating for a cross check that was missed, and the Flyers would get two more empty Power Plays later. Ultimately the first ended 1-0.

The second period was more of a slog, as the Canes managed to kill off a carry over power play for Philly, but Ryan Poehling scored shortly after on an “excuse me” shot that was the only moment of the night that Pyotr Kochetkov would want back. Poehling just entered the zone and was guarded, but instead of passing back just put the shot on net. A kind interpretation is that Kochetkov thought it was going to be a pass, got a late start, and it blew past him to tie the score 1-1.

The score stayed 1-1 through two periods thanks to some ridiculous saves by Fedotov. The Flyer goal did seem to wake Carolina up, and from that point forward they dominated play. Fedotov just made multiple timely saves, including one near the end of the period that was pure desperation, and despite outshooting the Flyers 10-4 in the period, the Canes went into the locker room tied.

The third, though, was when the Canes opened it up. Rod Brind’Amour had flip-flopped Svechnikov and Martinook the period prior, pairing the former with Staal and Carrier while the latter skated with Aho and Roslovic. Just one minute into the third, the new looks paid immediate dividends as Aho returned the favor of the “excuse me” shot and while facing like he was going to pass, blasted a shot to Fedotov just hard enough that he couldn’t contain it. The puck leaked through and the Canes were up 2-1.

Five minutes later the Canes put the Flyers to sleep in the span of 55 seconds. First, the Orlov/Chatfield pairing once again created some good opportunities, and this time it was a Staal Score as he was able to tip it in past Fedotov.

Then, while everyone was still settling in from that goal, Sebastian Aho made a great play at the blue line to get the puck into zone, and Jack Roslovic was able to clean up, ending his goalless streak and get to 10 on the season.

That goal effectively ended the game as the Flyers seemed to throw up the white flag and the Canes skated to get ready for their game Thursday night.

The Canes exhibited their typical dominance in shots on goal, beating Philly by a total of 37-19. More impressive is the fact that Philly only had eight after the first period.

The Canes will be right back at it Thursday night as they face off against former teammates Brent Pesce and Stefan Noesan for the first time in their New Jersey Devils sweater.