Ghost's amazing streak comes to an end in Flyers' loss

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Flyers lost a key game and Shayne Gostisbehere's 15-game scoring streak - the longest in NHL history by a rookie defenseman - came to an end Tuesday night.

A humble Gostisbehere said he wanted to thank his teammates and coaches "for all their support" during the streak.

His teammates wanted to thank HIM.

Sean Couturier was recovering from an injury during most of the streak, so he watched the rookie's accomplishments on his TV.

"He's a tremendous player; he's pretty spectacular to watch, especially me being at home on my couch," said Couturier after returning to the lineup in Tuesday's frustrating 3-1 loss in Carolina (see story). "It was fun as a fan, just watching him play and see what he does on the ice. It's pretty incredible, and he's  a big part of our team now."

Only three Flyers in franchise history - Bobby Clarke, Eric Lindros and Brian Propp - had scoring streaks longer than Gostisbehere's. He established new franchise scoring-streak records by a rookie and a defenseman. (Clarke and Lindros share the club record, with 18-game streaks.)

The streak was the longest by an NHL D-man since Chris Chelios had a 15-gamer in 1995-96.

"Hell of a streak by him," coach Dave Hakstol said. "He didn't play any differently tonight. He generated opportunities. Like the rest of the team, one wouldn't go. Streaks like that are going to come to an end. He can be real proud of it. I know his teammates are happy for him."

Gostisbehere had five goals and 13 assists during the 15-game run, which vaulted him into the rookie-of-the-year race. He had scored in every game since being held point-less in a 2-1 win in Detroit on Jan. 17.

The Union (N.Y) College product called it a "special streak" and said the "the biggest thing was  not getting a big head about it. It was a fun thing. I'm personally happy it's over and we don't' have to talk about it anymore."

Oddly, the Flyers did not have a winning record during Gostisbehere's run, going 6-6-3.

As for Tuesday's loss, the Flyers controlled play from start to finish. They outshot the Hurricanes, 37-18, but ran into a hot goaltender, Cam Ward. The Flyers had 66 shot attempts to Carolina's 37.

"To see how good we played out there, doing all the little things right, and we get a few bad bounces, it's tough to see," Gostisbehere said. "But we're a no-excuse team. We put ourselves in that situation. That stuff happens. It's just one of those games where you did some good things out there and you've just got to build off that."

Couturier returns. In his return to the lineup, Couturier played 23:22, recording two shots and going 12-for-21 on faceoffs (52 percent).

"We were going to ease him into some things and we eased him into about 23 minutes," Hakstol said. "That's not an easy situation to come back into at the end of February when you've been out for nearly a month. To his credit, he's shown the ability to do that before and he did it again tonight."

Breakaways. Mark Streit and Jake Voracek led the Flyers with six shots apiece. Voracek had a total of 10 shot attempts....The Flyers finished the season series 3-1 vs. Carolina, with all three wins in overtime.