PHILADELPHIA — Dougie Hamilton, Justin Williams and Teuvo Teravainen scored second-period goals to lead the Carolina Hurricanes past the woeful Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3 on Thursday night.
The Flyers fired coach Dave Hakstol and general manager Ron Hextall last month and the shake-up has yet to spark any kind of sign of playoff life for a franchise that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1975. The Flyers lost their fifth straight game and fell to 3-5-1 under interim coach Scott Gordon since his promotion from the AHL.
Wayne Simmons scored in the third to make it 4-1 and end Philly’s scoreless streak that stretched more than 123 minutes. The Flyers got hot too late in the game: Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk also scored goals the third, but the rally died at 4-3.
Teravainen’s second goal of the game ended the Flyers’ comeback and secured Carolina’s third win since Dec. 20. Petr Mrazek stopped 31 shots for the Hurricanes.
The Flyers lost the last four games of a five-game road trip and not even a return home could help the hapless franchise. Once a tough ticket, there were thousands of empty seats at faceoff and the crowd thinned out after the Hurricanes scored three times in the second.
Philly fans finally went wild late in the second — when an Eagles highlight video flashed on the big screen and the crowd belted out the lyrics to “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
The Hurricanes have their own issues and have only four more points (39) than last-place Philadelphia. But the Hurricanes played like a team with playoff hopes and wasted little time in the second snapping a scoreless game.
Hamilton took a shot in his 204th straight game and connected with his fourth goal of the season only 1:56 into the period. Hamilton beat Michal Neuvirth for his first goal in 22 games.
Williams, a former Flyer, scored his eighth of the season and Teravainen followed with his ninth late in the period for consecutive power-play goals for the Flyers.
Neuvirth was helpless when Warren Foegele scored on a deflection for a 4-0 lead early in the third. What seemed like an ordinary goal in a rout turned into the cushion the Hurricanes needed for the second win over the Flyers this week. The Hurricanes scratched out a 3-1 win on Monday at home.
NOTES: The Flyers had updates on several players suffering from undisclosed injuries: G Brian Elliott (back practicing in 10 to 14 days); C Corban Knight (return to play mid to late February); D Andrew MacDonald (out at least one more game); D Sam Morin (ACL surgery, mid-February); C Nolan Patrick (return next week); and G Anthony Stolarz (practice this weekend). … Mrazek played in his 200th career game.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: Host Columbus on Friday night.
Flyers: Host Calgary on Saturday.
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Dan Gelston, The Associated Press