McGinn's shootout winner lifts Hurricanes past Flyers
PHILADELPHIA -- Brock McGinn scored two goals in regulation and netted the winner in the shootout to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the final regular-season game for both teams.
Carolina's Sebastian Aho sent the game into overtime when he scored a power-play goal with 5:10 remaining in regulation.
Goaltender Eddie Lack (8-7-3) stopped 41 shots to earn the win for the Hurricanes, who finished the season with 36-31-15 record.
Forward Dale Weise scored a pair of goals and Wayne Simmonds netted his team-high 31st goal for the Flyers.
Rookie goaltender Anthony Stolarz (2-1-1) stopped 32 shots in the loss. The Flyers finished the season with a 39-33-10 record and 88 points, eight fewer than they had last season when they reached the postseason as a wild-card team.
The most touching moment of the game occurred during a stoppage 7:50 into the opening period when Hurricanes forward Bryan Bickell, playing in his final NHL game after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, received a standing ovation from the Philadelphia fans and a farewell stick tap from players on both teams.
Unlike the Flyers, who became the first team in NHL history to win 10 games in a row (Nov. 27 through Dec. 14) and still miss the playoffs, the Hurricanes started the season with just three wins in their first 13 games (3-6-4) and never fully recovered.
The Hurricanes made a late run by going 10-2-6 from Feb. 28 to March 30, but seemed to run out of gas in the final two weeks of the regular season when they lost five of their final six games.
The Flyers' troubles began immediately after their 10-game winning streak. They went 3-9-3 from Dec. 17 through Jan. 21 and played just three games over .500 the remainder of the season to fall out of contention.
The Hurricanes will look to add more scoring around left winger Jeff Skinner (37 goals) and shore up a defense that appears thin after losing Ron Hainsey in a trade with the Penguins.
Looking ahead, the Flyers will need to address a struggling offense (they ranked 28th in the NHL in 5-on-5 goals) and identify a starting goaltending. Starting goaltender Steve Mason (26-21-8) led the team in appearances and wins but is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring 5:42 into the first period when McGinn snapped a 29-game goal drought by scoring his sixth goal of the season. Carolina center Derek Ryan picked off a pass by Flyers rookie Travis Konecny and fed McGinn, who beat Stolarz off his catching glove.
The Flyers answered 8:46 into the second period when Weise scored his seventh goal -- and fifth in 14 games -- off a centering pass from Sean Couturier.
The Hurricanes again took the lead on McGinn's second goal of the game, a deflection of Noah Hanifin's slap shot with 8:39 gone on the third period. But the Flyers tried it again just 2:19 later on Weise's second goal of the game.
Simmonds gave the Flyers their first lead of the game with 7:55 remaining in regulation with his team-high 31st goal of the season, but after a tripping minor to Flyers rookie Ivan Provorov, the Hurricanes tied it at 3-3 on Aho's 24th goal of the season and sixth on the power play.
NOTES: Rookie C Mike Vecchione, signed by the Flyers out of Union College, played in his second NHL game and first in Philadelphia. Flyers scheduled to become unrestricted free agents this summer include forwards Chris VandeVelde and Jordan Weal, defensemen Michael Del Zotto and Nick Schultz, and goaltender Steve Mason, who served as a backup in the season finale. ... Hurricanes scheduled to become unrestricted free agents include forwards Bryan Bickell, Jay McClement and Derek Ryan, and defensemen Matt Tennyson. ... Jakub Voracek finished the season as the Flyers' point leader with 61 (20 goals, 41 assists). Jeff Skinner led the Hurricanes with 63 points (37 goals, 26 assists).