The Philadelphia Flyers began their four-game homestand with a win over the Carolina Hurricanes. They hope to cap the stay with a victory over those same 'Canes on Saturday afternoon when the two clubs get together for the second time in a week.
The Flyers got goals from five different skaters in a 5-3 win over the Hurricanes last Saturday. Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and Mike Knuble were among the goal-scorers, while Ilya Bryzgalov made 39 saves.
It was Philadelphia's 13th victory in its past 15 versus Carolina and the club has won nine of the last 12 encounters at home.
Joni Pitkanen, Eric Staal and Patrick Dwyer all tallied for the Hurricanes, but Dan Ellis yielded four goals on 12 shots in just under 21 minutes of play before getting pulled. Cam Ward made 11 saves in relief.
The Flyers followed up that victory with a 2-1 win over Tampa Bay for just their second two-game winning streak of the season, but failed to make it three in a row for the first time due to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
Philadelphia got goals from Matt Read and Jakub Voracek in regulation, but Read and Giroux were both turned aside in the shootout, the Flyers' first of the season. Bryzgalov, meanwhile, was beaten by both Panther skaters he faced after making 22 saves through overtime.
"Yeah, it's frustrating. Most of the game we played well," said Giroux. "There were a couple minutes there in the first where we were a little sloppy everywhere, but all around we played a pretty good game and a pretty solid team game. But in the end, we need those points. We needed that shootout win and we couldn't get it done."
The Flyers fell to 3-1-1 at home and open up a six-game road trip with Monday's game in Toronto.
The Hurricanes are in the midst of their own six-game swing, losing the opener in Philly before responding with wins in Toronto and Ottawa. They needed overtime to knock off the Senators on Thursday, but did so 3-2 on Jay Harrison's tally 2:19 into the extra frame.
Ward stopped a season-high 45 shots, while Chad LaRose and Alexander Semin also scored.
"We hung in there and found a way to get it done," said Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller. "We just regrouped after the second. Had some adjustments to make, and thanks to the goaltending of Cam, it made a big difference."
Staal had an assist in the game, giving him 11 points over his last seven games.
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