Flyers outlast Hurricanes on Manning goal
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Defenseman Brandon Manning scored a shorthanded goal with 12 minutes left and Claude Giroux added a goal and assist as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in eight days, 4-3 on Sunday night.
It was just Manning's third goal in 87 career games -- including two against Carolina in October -- as the Flyers (4-5-1) snapped a two-game losing skid.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes (2-4-2), who started the season with six straight away from home, now hit the road again for two games after going 1-1 on their brief homestand.
Carolina's Victor Rask lost a neutral-ice board battle on the game-winning goal against Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who flipped the puck across the ice to a wide open Manning, who beat Cam Ward high on short side.
The two teams headed to the final period tied 3-3 after five goals were scored in the second -- which has become quite a period for the Flyers, having scored 19 times so far in 10 games.
Jeff Skinner and Viktor Stalberg scored 1:45 apart in the second to erase a 2-1 deficit, only to see Flyers captain Giroux get his second of the season to tie the score 3-3.
Skinner scored his team-leading fifth goal two minutes after Radko Gudas had given the Flyers their second lead of the game midway through the second. Rask assisted on Skinner's goal, extending his point streak to eight straight games to start the season -- second best in franchise history.
Stalberg, the former New York Rangers forward, failed on a breakaway attempt in the first period but didn't miss again. He picked the puck away from Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov at the blue line and raced in on goalie Michal Neuvirth, who couldn't stop the shot between his legs as Stalberg notched his second of the season.
Gudas scored his first when his shot from the right point eluded Ward, who was screened by Giroux, who picked up his NHL-best 10th assist on the play.
Justin Faulk's wrist shot from the blue line 1:01 into the second started Carolina's three-goal period. It was the defenseman's third goal of the season and 50th of his career.
Shayne Gostisbehere was able to hold the puck in at the left point late in the first period on a Flyers power play and sneak the game's first goal past Ward, who couldn't make the save on the long shot after it hit defenseman Brett Pesce in the high slot. It was Philadelphia's seventh-man advantage goal in its last four games.
NOTES: Flyers D Michael Del Zotto practiced without a non-contact jersey for the first time Sunday. He has missed all 10 games to start the season with a lower-body injury and hasn't played a regular season game since Feb. 13. ... Carolina RW Lee Stempniak moved within two games of 800 for his career. ... LW Jeff Skinner of Carolina scored his 21st multi-goal game Friday night against the New York Rangers, making the 24-year-old the youngest active NHL player with 20 or more multi-goal games.