Hurricanes Fly Away, Beat Philadelphia 5-2

Coming off of a rough two-game stretch against the division-leading Washington Capitals, the Carolina Hurricanes were looking to once again show the hockey world why they are deserving of a playoff spot in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Canes had been lacking offense against Washington. Their goaltending was streaky. The power play was not there. The Canes gave up a lead in the third period.

That all changed last night against the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Canes won 5-2 in one of their highest-scoring, most productive games of the season.

The Canes scored their most goals in a game since a couple weeks prior against the Minnesota Wild, a 5-goal output. Petr Mrazek stopped 30 of 32 shots, and earned Second Star of the Game honors. Teuvo Teravainen scored on a man-up opportunity in the first, while Justin Faulk scored the game-winner on the power play in the third period. In addition, Dougie Hamilton, Brock McGinn, and Jaccob Slavin chipped in goals.

Similar to their home game this past Thursday night against Washington, the Canes had a 2-1 lead going into the third period. They took a 3-1 lead, but not before a goal by Philadelphia Flyers winger Oscar Lindblom made it 3-2. Slavin quickly answered with a goal at the 1:55 mark, while McGinn’s goal with 19 seconds remaining finished off our scoring barrage at 5-2.

The Canes’ next game does not get any easier, as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins (42-25-11, 95 points), a team they have already beaten twice this season. In this game, as the Canes try to win the season series 3-1, they also look to push further ahead of the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets, who both won last night against the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets, respectively.

The Canes got back into the win column against Philly. Can they start another winning streak against Pittsburgh, and take a step closer to ending the NHL’s longest active playoff drought?