National Hockey League
Philadelphia 4, Carolina 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 5, 2020
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Referees: Dean Morton, Ian Walsh
Linesmen: Steve Barton, Brad Kovachik
Attendance: 18900

Ivan Provorov, Michael Raffl, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Sean Couturier each scored a goal to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers past the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, on Thursday.

Scott Laughton recorded two assists for the surging Flyers, who won their season-high eighth in a row. The Flyers improved to 24-5-4 at home.

Philadelphia played without James van Riemsdyk, who is expected to be out at least four weeks with a broken right index finger.

Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made 28 saves and improved to 19-2-2 at home.

Justin Williams scored the lone goal for the struggling Hurricanes, who dropped their fourth straight.

Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 28 shots.

The Flyers began buzzing offensively late in the first period with Phil Myers sending a blistering wrist shot just wide at 15:46. The offensive pressure paid off as Provorov tapped home his own rebound at 18:23 for a 1-0 lead.

Eighteen seconds later, Carolina's Jordan Staal nearly tied the game, but Hart squeezed his pads to make a difficult save in front.

Carolina's Joel Edmundson pulled down Claude Giroux at 2:00 of the second for the first Flyers' power play. Despite several strong scoring chances, the Hurricanes were able to kill off the power play.

Shortly after Philadelphia's second power play, Raffl skated in alone and scored for a 2-0 advantage at 9:34.

Through two periods, the Hurricanes won 16 of 30 faceoffs, but couldn't generate enough offensive pressure and ultimately trailed by two goals.

The Hurricanes closed within 2-1 at 2:55 of the third when 38-year-old Williams, a former Flyer, scored his fourth goal of the season.

Philadelphia extended its lead to 3-1 at 4:28 when Aube-Kubel took advantage of a careless turnover in Carolina's own zone and scored on a second effort. Aube-Kubel now has at least one point in five straight games.

Couturier pushed the lead to 4-1 just 26 seconds later. Jake Voracek picked up an assist on the goal, his eighth in the last four games.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Carolina   Philadelphia
Justin Williams 1 Points Scott Laughton 2
Justin Williams 1 Goals Nicolas Aube-Kubel 1
Brock McGinn 1 Assists Scott Laughton 2
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Alex Nedeljkovic .875 Save Percentage Carter Hart .966
Alex Nedeljkovic 28 Saves Carter Hart 28
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Carolina 29 1 0-0 2-2 4 22
Philadelphia 32 4 0-2 0-0 0 30
Upcoming Games
  • Philadelphia will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Flyers have a W/L % of .615 after a win and .571 after a loss.
  • Carolina will play their next game on the road against NY Islanders. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .543 after a win and .533 after a loss.