Flyers squander two-goal lead, lose 3-2 in OT to fall into 2-0 series hole

RALEIGH, N.C. ― This game was always going to overtime.

Why? May 4 is a famous day in Flyers history.

It’s a day that saw Ilkka Sinisalo score in overtime of Game 1 of the 1987 Wales Conference finals against Montreal. Thirteen years later, Keith Primeau’s wrister from the right circle in the fifth overtime of Game 4 of the 2000 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins — technically the early hours of May 5 — capped off the third-longest game in NHL history. And in 2004, Jeremy Roenick’s overtime dagger sent the Flyers to the conference finals, eliminating the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But while the Flyers had playoff history on their side, the Hurricanes had recency bias and sent the Flyers back to Philly with a 3-2 overtime loss on a rebound goal by Taylor Hall. The Flyers now trail two to nothing in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference second-round series.

Despite being down, the Flyers felt they played well, especially in overtime, and several said postgame they were looking forward to getting back home to play in front of their fans.

“We’ve been dead before, and we’ve climbed out of the grave,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “We keep hearing that we’re dead and dead, but the guys won’t give up. So that’s why I’m proud of them.”

In the extra session, the Orange and Black did outshoot the ‘Canes 15-6 — with another seven that were either blocked or missed the net — but could not get one past goalie Frederik Andersen. Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Travis Sanheim all had chances around the net, and Jamie Drysdale and Cam York had shots from the point, including a chance by Drysdale on a power play.

But it was Travis Konecny who had the best opportunity when he peeled off his counterpart on a neutral-zone face-off and got a chance on a breakaway after receiving a feed from Zegras. “It’s got to go in,” Konecny said postgame.

“We played good tonight,” he said. “Like I said, I should have finished that; it should have been over, [and] we’re going home with a win.”

» READ MORE: There’s no shame in the Flyers’ Game 2 loss. The Hurricanes are just better.

After getting run over in Game 1 on Saturday, the Flyers had a better start on Monday and not only opened the scoring, but they did it on the power play; they entered the night at 9.5% with only the Buffalo Sabres (4.2%) worse among the remaining eight teams left in the postseason.

After former Flyers defenseman Sean Walker sent a backhand clearing attempt over the glass, the Flyers got the first man-advantage of the game. With about 90 seconds left on the power play, Konecny entered the Hurricanes’ zone and dished it to Zegras on his right, attracting two penalty killers.

It left a ton of space down the middle, which is where Tyson Foerster was, but the pass by Zegras went off the stick of Sebastian Aho and popped up in the air. Foerster tried to catch the puck and put it down, but it hit him, fell to the ice, and started rolling toward the goal, where Andersen poked it out. He ended up sending the puck right to Drysdale, who skated in and confidently wired one home.

The goal 4:02 into the game was Drysdale’s second goal, fourth point, and third power-play point of the postseason.

“I think we always thought, and we always believe that we can play with these guys,” Drysdale said.

“Every regular-season game, we were right there with them. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to come out with this one. There’s definitely things we can take and learn and know how we need to play to be successful. Definitely [stinks], but we got a few days here, regroup, learn from it, and come back harder at home.”

Off the ensuing center-ice faceoff, the Hurricanes won it but were unable to control the puck, thanks to the pressure of Carl Grundström, who was making his postseason debut for Philly. The Flyers got the puck in the zone, thanks to some hard work by the Swede, and went to work with Luke Glendening knocking down a ring-around by Andersen, Rasmus Ristolainen keeping the puck in at the right point, and the trio of forwards grinding along the boards.

Eventually, the puck bounced awkwardly off a stanchion or the glass and popped out with Grundström picking it up and trying a shot along the goal line that William Carrier blocked. He stayed with it and carried the puck behind the goal before sending it in front to Couturier for the tally 39 seconds after Drysdale’s goal.

The goal was Couturier’s first of this postseason and first since Aug. 30, 2020, in the bubble. Grundström now has six points in 18 career playoff games, the rest coming with the Los Angeles Kings.

“I think we had our legs a little bit more, quicker on pucks, making better decisions, harder on the forecheck, and turning over pucks, and it allowed us to get more zone time and generate chances,” said Saheim, who was on the ice for the goal.

“With their system, the way that they run around, they have extended D-zone time, eventually you’re getting your looks, and you’re getting pretty good looks. So we’ve just got to continue with that.”

In a contest filled with penalties — the Flyers had seven power plays and the Hurricanes had six — Carolina did get one back on the man advantage in the first period.

About 90 seconds after Dan Vladař made a left skate-blade save on a one-timer by Sebastian Aho from the right circle, Nikolaj Ehlers beat him from the same spot on the same play. The goal came less than 30 seconds after Ristolainen couldn’t clear the puck, and four seconds before the holding penalty on York was set to expire.

The rest of the way, the teams traded chances amid limited five-on-five action and several power plays.

Denver Barkey had a chance when he received a pass off the boards from Porter Martone — they played with Alex Bump, completing the newly-formed “Kid Line” — as he cut down the middle alone. Barkey, slotted in at center, had two good chances from in tight.

In the second period, Vladař made a save on a short-handed breakaway chance by Eric Robinson. The South Jersey native received a pass from Seth Jarvis as he was getting tripped by Ristolainen. Vladař also saved a pair of chances from Jarvis right afterward.

Then, with Ristolainen in the box, Sanheim made two saves of his own. The first was when he cleared the puck from the goal line on a Jarvis point shot that bounced off Andrei Svechnikov atop the crease and through the legs of Vladař. Two seconds later, Sanheim was credited with a block on former Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostibehere while he was still in the crease.

Robinson had another chance on a breakaway at even strength, nixed by Vladař, before Dvorak’s shot went off the glove of Andersen, and then the post after he received a smart diagonal cross-ice pass from Matvei Michkov during a power play.

But the Hurricanes kept swirling, and in the third period, with 8:39 left in regulation, Jarvis got the puck from Ehlers and patiently waited to pick his spot with a snapshot past the glove of Vladař to tie the game 2-2.

Noah Cates had a chance to end the game with eight seconds left as he got the puck in the slot, but Taylor Hall made a ridiculous block to send the puck into the netting.

“We’ll move on, get ready for the next one,” Sanheim said. “I think it helps our confidence, though, going into the next one [with a] much better effort from our group. Thought we deserved better. Have to be ready to go for the next one.”

The Flyers and Hurricanes have now gone past regulation in five of their six meetings this season, including on April 13, when the Flyers beat Carolina in a shootout to clinch a playoff spot. ... Vladař made 40 saves while the Flyers put 36 shots on Andersen, including 15 in OT. ... The Flyers had played one other game that went to overtime this postseason, which ended on Cam York’s point shot in Game 6 to eliminate the Penguins. ... Forward Garnet Hathaway and defenseman Noah Juulsen, who played in Game 1, were healthy scratches. Emil Andre slotted in on the third pairing in place of Juulsen. ... The Flyers’ goals were the second quickest in franchise history over the past 15 years, behind the 37 seconds needed for Danny Brière, now the team’s general manager, and James van Riemsdyk to score in Game 1 of the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinal against the New Jersey Devils. Philly did win that game, 4-3, in overtime on a goal by Brière.

The series shifts to South Philly for Game 3 on Thursday at Xfinity Mobile Arena (8 p.m., TNT).