Hurricanes 3, Flyers 2: No mischief here

The Basics

First period: 3:11, Stefan Noesen (Svechnikov, Orlov), 15:09, Owen Tippett (Couturier), 18:23, Garnet Hathaway (Deslauriers, Laughton)

Second period: 9:02, Michael Bunting (Noesen, Kotkaniemi) PP,

Third period: 16:13, Teuvo Teravainen (Kotkaniemi, Bunting)

SOG : 33 CAR - 28 PHI

Some Takeaways

A ways to go

This was, all in all, a bit of an up and down showing for the Flyers. There were portions of the game, particularly in the second and through much of the third period, where they were able to hang really well with a very good Hurricanes team, and that\'s something we can come away from this one impressed by. They were able to keep this one close, even hold onto a lead, for a while, and that\'s not an easy task against this team.

But that said, the stretches when the Flyers were overmatched proved to be excellent examples of just how much ground they have to cover before they can move into the territory of being a bonafide Actually Good Team. They were overrun by the Hurricanes\' pace and level of pressure for much of the first period tonight, and then it was one big mistake, one failed clear, that the Hurricanes were able to pounce on to get themselves the game winning goal late in the third period. It was a stark reminder of how difficult the really good teams can make things for you, and how quickly they can make you pay for your mistakes. It was a worthwhile reminder, despite their good play so far, of how far the Flyers still have to go in their rebuild.

The lineup shuffle immediately paid dividends

One of the bigger pieces of news we had coming into this game was that the lineup was finally getting a bit of a shuffle -- after sitting for the last six games, Morgan Frost was coming back into the lineup, Scott Laughton was being moved down to the fourth line, and Ryan Poehling was being pushed to the press box. And this was a move, it turned out, that immediately gave them a boost.

The fourth line with Poehling, Garnet Hathaway, and Nic Deslauriers has been good to start the season, have put up strong underlying numbers, but it had been eight games before this and they were yet to combine for a single goal, and that was beginning to become a problem. Moving Laughton down to join them gave them an extra offensive boost, and they were rewarded pretty quickly -- this trio combined for the go-ahead goal to put the Flyers the lead at the end of the first period.

Up in the lineup, Frost also had himself a positive showing. He put up three individual scoring chances across all situations, and his line at 5-on-5 with Tyson Foerster and Travis Konecny graded out well in their 10:37 together -- even though they couldn\'t get themselves on the board, they still out-shot the Hurricanes 6-2 and out-chanced them .48 - .13 by Expected Goals. We can recognize that we\'re still digging for positives in what was ultimately a losing effort, but it\'s hard to not be impressed by the way offense has now begun to click from all areas of the lineup.

The power play is still struggling

One area where we would like to also see the offense continue to build, of course, is the power play. There\'s progress being made here, don\'t get us wrong, but it\'s still all a bit short of coming together. The Flyers had a wealth of chances to work with tonight -- 10 minutes in total of time on the power play -- but still they weren\'t able to get themselves on the board.

The good news, though, is that the underlying process continues to trend in the right direction for them. In those 10 minutes on the man-advantage, the Flyers were able to generate 10 shot attempts, get seven of them on goal, and total 1.75 Expected Goals. In short, they\'re still getting pretty supremely unlucky, the bounces aren\'t going their way and they\'re just lacking the finish, but they are getting close. And if they keep creating chances in bulk like they have been here, it feels like only a matter of time before regression swings back around to work in their favor and the goals start to come.

Flyers games are apparently the place to be

The Flyers\' games have been by and large pretty fun so far this season, and dare we say it, they\'re becoming a bit of a hot ticket around town?

That might be going a bit too far, but there was a pair of local celebrities in the house for a random Monday night game, and that\'s pretty neat. Bryce Harper brought the family to take in some hockey.

https://twitter.com/ryanquigz/status/1719148949481635937?s=20

Gritty also made a new friend in Wally, the emotional support alligator who was famously barred entry from Citizens Bank Park this fall.

https://twitter.com/NHLdotcom/status/1719152835542077703?s=20

And who is the bigger celebrity? Feel free to discuss in the comments.

All stats via Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com

Talking Points