Voracek fuels Flyers past Hurricanes
PHILADELPHIA -- Jakub Voracek recorded two goals and one assist and Wayne Simmonds and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere had one of each in the Philadelphia Flyers' 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers' comeback win snapped a three-game losing streak and was their first victory on home ice this season.
Matt Read and defenseman Brandon Manning also scored for the Flyers (2-2-1), while goaltender Steve Mason picked up his first win of the season with 27 saves.
Defenseman Justin Faulk, Jordan Staal and Lee Stempniak scored and Eddie Lack made 21 saves for Carolina, which is 1-2-2 to start the season. The Hurricanes conclude their six-game road trip Tuesday night in Detroit.
The Flyers carried a 4-3 lead into the final period and received goals from Simmonds at 12:27 and Voracek with2:27 remaining to seal the win.
After combining for just 12 shots in a scoreless first period, the two teams exploded for seven goals on 27 shots in the second period.
The Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Faulk and Staal in the opening 3:07 of the period, only to see the Flyers score four straight times.
Faulk opened the scoring with the Hurricanes' sixth power-play goal in five games just 50 seconds into the second period and Staal doubled the advantage when he snapped a cross-ice feed from Joakim Nordstrom past Mason for his second goal of the season.
The Flyers tilted the ice after that, getting even-strength goals from Manning, Voracek, Read and Gostisbehere in a span of 12:27.
Manning started the onslaught at the 4:50 mark when he tucked the puck behind Lack from below the goal line for his first of the season. Voracek followed with his first of the season with a redirection of a point shot by rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov.
Provorov picked up his second assist of the night when he set up Read for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. When Gostisbehere fired a wrister past Lack for his first goal, it looked like the Flyers might be on their way to a romp of the road-weary Hurricanes.
Instead, the 33-year-old Stempniak gave the Hurricanes some life with his fourth goal of the season with 66 seconds remaining in the second period, converting on a nice feed from top-line center Victor Rask.
NOTES: Flyers RW Dale Weise served the first game of his three-game suspension for his hit to the head of Anaheim Ducks D Korbinian Holzer on Thursday night. He was replaced in the Flyers' lineup by rookie RW Roman Lyubimov, who made his second appearance of the season on a fourth line with LW Chris VandeVelde and C Boyd Gordon. ... Flyers D Michael Del Zotto (left knee) and LW Scott Laughton (lower body) missed their fifth straight games. While LW Michael Raffl (upper body) missed his second game. ... The Flyers are back in action Monday night in Montreal against the Canadiens. ... The Hurricanes played their fifth straight game on the road. They conclude their season-opening six-game trip Tuesday night in Detroit. The Canes are the last NHL team to play their opener and will finally return to Raleigh on Friday night against the New York Rangers. ... Hurricanes assistant coach Rod Brind'Amour played nine of his 21 NHL seasons in Philadelphia. ... Hurricanes D Ryan Murphy remains out of the Carolina lineup because of a lower-body injury. He is expected to be sidelined 3-4 weeks. ... RW Martin Frk, C Andrej Nestrasil and D Jakub Nakladal were healthy scratches for the Hurricanes.