Gostisbehere lifts Flyers over Hurricanes 3-2 in OT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Flyers were relieved to finally score a goal. Then they breathed even easier after picking up a win.
Shayne Gostisbehere scored 24 seconds into overtime on a power play to give Philadelphia a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night.
Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux had goals in regulation for the Flyers, who snapped a scoreless drought that reached nearly 3 hours. By the time the night was over, they had their third win in 14 games.
''We're pushing a lot of small areas in the right direction. We just have to keep pushing,'' first-year coach Dave Hakstol said. ''Nobody's comfortable with the won-loss record, and that's a good thing.''
The Flyers were shut out in the previous two and entered averaging an NHL-worst 1.70 goals per game. They set a franchise low with only 34 goals through the first 20 games following Saturday's loss at Ottawa.
Victor Rask and Brett Pesce scored in the third period for the Hurricanes, who came back from a two-goal deficit to force overtime.
''We didn't play very well through 40 (minutes) and then we found a way to get it tied up,'' Carolina coach Bill Peters said. ''To play less than 60 minutes and be able to get a point is good.''
Rask was whistled for holding the stick 11 seconds into the extra session, and the Flyers took advantage.
Gostisbehere, a rookie defenseman, fired a one-time slap shot from the slot after getting a pass from Giroux and beat backup goalie Eddie Lack for his second career goal.
''We had about 10 seconds to draw up a play,'' Gostisbehere said. ''It wasn't quite the play, but it worked out. It was a great play by (Giroux).''
Philadelphia backup Michal Neuvirth, making his first start in six games, stopped 31 shots to improve to 4-3-1.
Hakstol shook up his lines in an effort to get Philadelphia's offense going. The most notable change was the shift of top-line wing Jakub Voracek to the third line.
Voracek's season-long scoring slump had resulted in just nine points, including one goal, through 20 games. But he helped the offense Monday with a pair of assists.
His first helper set up Schenn's power-play tally midway through the second period that ended a scoreless drought of 2 hours, 47 minutes.
''It was nice to see one go in,'' Hakstol said. ''Obviously, it's been a while since one's gone in. So that was good for our group.''
The Flyers followed it up a little less than 5 minutes later when Giroux scored a short-handed goal on a rebound. Sean Couturier took the initial shot from the left circle, and the puck bounced right to Giroux after Lack made the initial save with his left pad. Giroux tapped it home into the empty net.
''We need to find a way to play like that for 60 minutes, game in and game out,'' Giroux said of the second period.
Carolina pulled within a goal 8 minutes into the third on Rask's sixth of the season when he converted a rebound of John-Michael Liles' shot from the point.
Pesce provided the equalizer with 3:45 left in regulation when he pounced on a rebound and scored from close range. Ron Hainsey took the initial shot, and Neuvirth tried to glove it but had the puck bounce off his pads to Pesce.
''They made a good push and part of that is we took our foot off the gas a little bit,'' Hakstol said. ''Maybe a little bit natural with some of the struggles we've gone through. We'll take a lot of the positives out of this.''
The Flyers' scoring struggles had continued prior to Schenn's opening goal, as they dominated play for the first 1 1/2 periods only to see the game remain scoreless. Schenn couldn't convert a penalty shot with 2:54 remaining in the first period, and Philadelphia failed to score on a plethora of good chances through the first 30 minutes.
NOTES: Philadelphia inducted former Flyers standout Rod Brind'Amour into the club's Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony. Brind'Amour is a Carolina assistant coach. ... Flyers C Sam Gagner left with an upper-body injury following a check from Brad Malone with 11:20 remaining in the first period and didn't return. Philadelphia's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare fought Malone to a draw 2 minutes later. ... Carolina was playing the second game of a back-to-back. The Hurricanes skated to a 4-3 home win over Los Angeles on Sunday. ... Voracek, who set a career high with 81 points last season, scored his only goal of the season in Philadelphia's 3-2 overtime win at Carolina on Nov. 14.
