Hurricanes overcome penalties, deficit to beat Flyers in OT for 2-0 lead in 2nd-round playoff series
RALEIGH, N. C. — Rick Tocchet got the response he wanted from his Philadelphia Flyers.
Rod Brind’Amour had reason to be frustrated with his Carolina Hurricanes taking too many penalties, disrupting their preferred 5-on-5 rhythm. And yet, the Hurricanes still are unbeaten in the NHL playoffs, thanks to a comeback from their first deficit of the postseason and a gritty-effort overtime winner from Taylor Hall. Carolina’s 3-2 win gave the Eastern Conference’s top seed a 2-0 lead in the second-round series, coming after an uphill climb with the Flyers getting to their game much more effectively than in the series opener to build some confidence as the series shifts to Philadelphia.
“We don’t quit. I think we’ve shown that all year,” said Carolina winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who had a goal and assisted on the tying score in the third period. “If we keep playing the right way and keep putting a lot of pressure on their players, every single shift, we will get back to playing some pretty good hockey and creating a lot of turnovers, a lot of good chances.
“You want adversity. We had that in the Ottawa series as well, because it’s going to happen again. And now we know what we need to do for the next time it happens.
” Carolina swept that first-round series against the Senators and never trailed. That series started with a home shutout and then a 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 2. The Hurricanes started this series in similar fashion, first with a Game 1 shutout and then another 3-2 win in extra time on Hall’s score at 18:54 of OT.