Carolina Hurricanes (5-4-0) at Philadelphia Flyers (4-6-1), 1 p.m.
(Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Flyers began their four-game homestand
with a win over the Carolina Hurricanes. They hope to cap the stay with a
victory over those same 'Canes on Saturday afternoon when the two clubs get
together for the second time in a week.
The Flyers got goals from five different skaters in a 5-3 win over the
Hurricanes last Saturday. Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and Mike Knuble were
among the goal-scorers, while Ilya Bryzgalov made 39 saves.
It was Philadelphia's 13th victory in its past 15 versus Carolina and the club
has won nine of the last 12 encounters at home.
Joni Pitkanen, Eric Staal and Patrick Dwyer all tallied for the Hurricanes,
but Dan Ellis yielded four goals on 12 shots in just under 21 minutes of play
before getting pulled. Cam Ward made 11 saves in relief.
The Flyers followed up that victory with a 2-1 win over Tampa Bay for just
their second two-game winning streak of the season, but failed to make it
three in a row for the first time due to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Florida
Panthers.
Philadelphia got goals from Matt Read and Jakub Voracek in regulation, but
Read and Giroux were both turned aside in the shootout, the Flyers' first of
the season. Bryzgalov, meanwhile, was beaten by both Panther skaters he faced
after making 22 saves through overtime.
"Yeah, it's frustrating. Most of the game we played well," said Giroux. "There
were a couple minutes there in the first where we were a little sloppy
everywhere, but all around we played a pretty good game and a pretty solid
team game. But in the end, we need those points. We needed that shootout win
and we couldn't get it done."
The Flyers fell to 3-1-1 at home and open up a six-game road trip with
Monday's game in Toronto.
The Hurricanes are in the midst of their own six-game swing, losing the opener
in Philly before responding with wins in Toronto and Ottawa. They needed
overtime to knock off the Senators on Thursday, but did so 3-2 on Jay
Harrison's tally 2:19 into the extra frame.
Ward stopped a season-high 45 shots, while Chad LaRose and Alexander Semin
also scored.
"We hung in there and found a way to get it done," said Hurricanes head coach
Kirk Muller. "We just regrouped after the second. Had some adjustments to
make, and thanks to the goaltending of Cam, it made a big difference."
Staal had an assist in the game, giving him 11 points over his last seven
games.
Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville didn't want to talk about the injury that forced him to scratch forward Marian Hossa from the Stanley Cup finals against the Boston Bruins.
Hockey Olympian called Raleigh home The late Bob Baker of Raleigh grew up in Minnesota and played for the 1948 men's Olympic hockey team in Switzerland, where they finished fourth. Baker then joined a farm team, and the Chicago Blackhawks occasionally called him up. But a job with IBM eventually brought him to North Carolina.
Medlin: Clean-out day for Canes Monday was packing day for the Carolina Hurricanes as they cleaned out their lockers at PNC Arena facing a long offseason.
Eric Staal: There will be some changes Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal said Monday that he expects the team to make some changes in the offseason.
Faulk: It's not a good feeling Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk said Monday that packing up early for a long offseason is never a good feeling.
Ward: It was a frustrating and helpless feeling Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward said Monday that after being injured and watching the team slump down the stretch he felt frustrated and helpless.
Harrison: We didn't win when we had to Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jay Harrison said that the team didn't win enough games down the stretch to be a playoff-worthy team.
Canes fall to Caps despite Tlusty hat trick Jiri Tlusty netted his first career hat trick for the Hurricanes but it wasn't enough as the Washington Capitals defeated Carolina, 5-3, Tuesday at PNC Arena.
Hurricanes fall 4-1 to New Jersey Devils The Carolina Hurricanes could not find the scoring to keep themselves in the game Thursday night in Raleigh as they fall behind to the Devils in the Eastern Conference standings.
Staal, Jokinen tally twice in Canes win over Florida Riley Nash scored his first NHL goal and Eric Staal and Jussi Jokinen each lit the lamp twice as the Carolina Hurricanes cruised past the Florida Panthers, 6-2, Saturday night at PNC Arena.
Canes dominate Penguins in 4-1 win Jiri Tlusty scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes maintained their lead in the Southeast Division with a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday at PNC Arena.
Canes come up short against Winnipeg 4-3 The injury-plagued Carolina Hurricanes could not muster up enough scoring to defeat the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night in Raleigh.