Flyers have potential first win wiped away on questionable call; earn point against Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes surged, but the Flyers battened down the hatches and skated away with their first point of the season against a team many are saying is the best in the Metropolitan Division.

After a comeback late in regulation, the Flyers lost 4-3 in overtime on a one-timer by Seth Jarvis with 17 seconds left. The point is the first in the Rick Tocchet era.

The goal came after it appeared that with 54 seconds left, Bobby Brink had scored the game-winner. Automatically reviewed, the referees said the situation room determined Travis Sanheim had “impaired Frederik Andersen’s ability to play his position in the crease.”

It appeared, however, that the goalie had initiated the contact by pushing his arms out into Sanheim.

» READ MORE: Flyers begin to build a foundation under Rick Tocchet but there’s ‘still a lot to work on’

“Just trying to make a play to the net, and I guess incidental contact,” Sanheim said. “Felt like he kind of pushed his arms out, too. I have to make a play as well.

“When I see it, I don’t think he was ever getting back, even if I don’t touch him. So tough call. Obviously, not the refs, it’s the league that decided that. So it’s unfortunate, and we have to live with it.”

Added Brink: “My humble opinion, it’s the wrong call. But they made the rule, so what do I know?”

Sanheim had tied the game with four minutes left in the third period. After yet another great shift, with puck possession down low and control of the boards by the line of Noah Cates, Brink, and Tyson Foerster, Brink found a wide-open lane to Sanheim for the one-timer from between the circles.

Somehow, the Flyers escaped the first period with a 1-0 lead.

Just nine seconds after Jalen Chatfield pulled down Cates with 31 seconds left in the period, Owen Tippett got his first of the year. Trevor Zegras, who won the offensive-zone face-off, got the puck back between the circles — drawing two guys — and fed Travis Konecny, who walked in and rattled the shot off the glass. The puck caromed to Tippett in front for the easy tally.

It was a momentum swing considering the Flyers were outshot 15-6 in the opening frame. According to Natural Stat Trick, they also got out-chanced, 37-13.

But Sam Ersson withstood the surge, including stopping Jordan Martinook as he crashed the crease and Jordan Staal, who jumped on the rebound. With 2:08 left, the Flyers netminder read the play well and stopped Jackson Blake in the slot, after robbing him earlier in the period with his pad.

» READ MORE: Nikita Grebenkin looks to add a net-front presence as part of the fourth line in his Flyers debut

The Flyers didn’t register a shot on goal until 11:12 into the first period. The “shot” was a clear by Nick Seeler on the penalty kill that traveled 157 feet down the ice on goal. The first legit scoring chance that Frederik Andersen had to stop was by Cates 13:25 into the game. After the centerman chipped the puck off the boards to Brink, the forward carried it down the ice but lost it right to Cates, who fired the shot on goal from 20 feet out.

Ersson stopped eight of the 16 shots he faced in the opening frame on the power play, as the Flyers took four penalties; only Garnet Hathaway’s was a coincidental minor with Blake. One of the penalties, a slashing call on Cates, was questionable, with it looking like Blake sold it.

Carolina tied the game in the second period on a goal by Logan Stankoven. The Hurricanes skated into the zone on a three-on-two, and after Egor Zamula went down to try to knock the puck away from Blake, Stankoven toe-dragged for the shot on goal. Ersson made the initial save, but after two guys went to Blake, Stankoven was left open for the slam-dunk goal.

It didn’t last long, however, as Brink got on the board after sustained pressure across two lines by the Flyers. Nikita Grebenkin, making his Flyers debut, kept the puck in and sent it to Cates along the boards. He fed it to his fellow Minnesotan Brink, who skated into the right circle, dipped the shoulder, and scored his first of the year.

The Hurricanes got two more in the middle frame. South Jersey native Eric Robinson carried the puck up the ice, and Taylor Hall, who had one extra step on Travis Sanheim, tipped the puck in on the backhand. Staal, Carolina’s captain, made it 3-2 with 2:30 left in the second after Martinook’s blind centering pass went to him.

Forwards Rodrigo Ābols and Nic Deslauriers, and defenseman Dennis Gilbert were healthy scratches. ... Forward Jett Luchanko made his season debut and played 7:40. His ice time was impacted by the penalties early on. ... Matvei Michkov played 13:27 and did not get an overtime shift. “I just wanted the guys I thought were skating,” Tocchet said. ... Ersson allowed four goals on 39 shots.

The Flyers take on the Florida Panthers again in the home opener on Monday (7 p.m., NBCSP). Before the game, there will be a special presentation and dedication to Bernie Parent, the Hall of Fame goalie, who backstopped the Orange and Black to consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975, and died on Sept. 21 at the age of 80.