Greg Wyshynski
Multiple Authors
The Philadelphia Flyers remained defiant after their 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2 Monday night put them in a 2-0 hole against the undefeated Carolina Hurricanes.
“We’ve been dead before, and we’ve climbed out of the grave,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “We keep hearing that we’re dead, but the guys won’t give up. That’s why I’m proud of them.”
The Flyers had the Hurricanes on their heels to start the second game of this Eastern Conference semifinal. Jamie Drysdale’s power-play goal 4:02 into the first period marked the first time Carolina trailed in this year’s postseason. Sean Couturier’s goal just 39 seconds later left the arena stunned as Philadelphia built a 2-0 advantage. That start came after Tocchet said the Flyers weren’t “mentally prepared” in their Game 1 loss.
“Mentally and physically, I just felt we had more energy. And I think we believed that we could compete with this team,” he said. “We had a sour taste after that game. We had better energy tonight.”
But Carolina chipped away at the lead, starting with Nik Ehlers’ power-play goal in the first period and then Seth Jarvis’ game-tying tally in the third period.
In overtime, the Flyers found their groove again, earning 61% of the shot attempts and scoring chances against Carolina.
“We kind of reset after the third. We knew we didn’t have a chance at winning the game with the way we were playing. It was just kind of a matter of time,” Drysdale said. “I think we pressed in overtime, had a lot of good looks. But yeah, something’s got to go.”
Frederik Andersen made 15 saves in overtime, in what was an outstanding goaltending duel against Dan Vladar (40 saves). He didn’t need to make a save on the Flyers’ best chance in overtime, as forward Travis Konecny badly missed wide on a breakaway chance.
“I should have finished that. We should be going home with a win,” Konecny said after the game.
Taylor Hall won it for the Hurricanes with 1:06 remaining in overtime to give them a 2-0 series lead.
“I think there’s another level to our game that we can get to. Should have gone our way tonight,” Konecny said. “We’re going home to our fans now. We know what it’s like there. We’re excited.”
History isn’t on their side. Teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven playoff round hold an all-time series record of 363-58 (.862), including a 272-36 (.883) mark when starting as the home team. But Drysdale said that despite the hole they’re in, the Flyers have faith they can hang with the Hurricanes.
“I think we always believe that we can play with these guys. Every regular-season game, we were right there with them,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to come out with this one. Definitely sucks. But we’ve got a few days here to regroup, learn from it and come back harder at home.”
Game 3 is Thursday night.
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