Recap: Canes Foil Flyers For Fourth Straight Win

RALEIGH, N.C. - For the second time in 24 hours, the Carolina Hurricanes topped the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout, taking a 3-2 victory at Lenovo Center to extend their winning streak to four games.

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Sparked by a dominant start in front of their home crowd, the Hurricanes raced out to a 2-0 lead in the early going. William Carrier started the party with a spinaround shot from the high slot at 5:44, while Taylor Hall followed 10 minutes later with a deflection of an Alexander Nikishin bomb on the power play.

Shortly after Hall's tip-in, though, a bad-luck bounce off Carrier's stick brought the Flyers within a goal and provided some momentum before the break. A tighter tussle ensued in the second period as Philadelphia found its footing, before then applying more pressure in the third. Doubling Carolina's shot total in the final frame, the Flyers found a tying tally off the stick of Trevor Zegras with the extra attacker on and just 1:52 remaining to force overtime.

Buoyed by a power play, the Hurricanes fired the only two recorded shots on goal during overtime, but couldn't put one past Dan Vladar. Facing its third consecutive shootout, and second in as many nights against Philadelphia, Carolina turned to Brandon Bussi, who stopped all three Flyers shooters, and Andrei Svechnikov, who scored the shootout's only goal, to secure its fourth consecutive victory.

Bussi finished with 24 saves on 26 shots, moving to 11-1-0 as he continues to author a stellar start to his NHL career.

Stats & Standouts

• Goaltender Brandon Bussi won his ninth straight outing, matching Cam Ward for the franchise's longest such streak by a netminder.
• Forward William Carrier scored his third goal of the season in his 26th outing, climbing to within one of the four he recorded during 43 games last season.
• Defenseman Alexander Nikishin picked up an assist to extend his point streak to three games (1G, 2A). He's the seventh rookie this season with multiple point streaks of three games or longer.
• Forward Andrei Svechnikov scored his 12th career shootout goal, which is the most in franchise history. His 38.7% conversion rate also ranks fifth among all-time Hurricanes with at least 10 shootout attempts.
• Defenseman Jaccob Slavin returned from a 29-game absence (lower-body), skating 14:31 and leading the team with three blocked shots.
• The Hurricanes moved to 14-2-0 (.875) when scoring first this season, surpassing the New York Rangers (13-2-0, .867) for the best win percentage in that scenario.
• Following last night's victory in Philadelphia, Carolina has now defeated the same opponent on consecutive days for the first time since posting back-to-back wins over Chicago on May 3-4, 2021.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour assessing the game as a whole...

"I loved the first two periods. We gave that late one up in a pulled goalie situation, and then we gave up (the one with the extra attacker on). So, we've got to do a better job there, for sure, but I liked the way we played those two periods."

Andrei Svechnikov on his shootout winner...

"I didn't score for probably the last 10 shootouts, so I had to score this one. I just went in from the left side and tried to make a move first. Thank God I scored that one."

Brandon Bussi following yet another victory...

"I just try and bring my best every game, you know? I feel good right now. I feel confident. I feel like if I see the puck, I have a good chance to stop it. Our team has made some great plays in front, specifically, I remember at the end of the first period, after they scored... That's the sacrifice we need to win games."

Jaccob Slavin after his first game in over two months...

"That was fun. It's good to be back out there, good to be back playing. Sometimes being injured is almost harder than the grind of the season. But I'm just thankful. All in God's time. I was stressing that the whole time in the recovery process... The guys did a great job while I was out. Obviously, the Bus has been holding down the fort big time back there. Everyone else has been working hard, all the young guys that came up and played, I mean, the team has just done a great job."

What's Next After This Game?

• The Canes are scheduled to be off on Monday before practicing and traveling on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's clash in Nashville.
• Next Game: Wednesday, Dec. 17 at Nashville | 8:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO
• Next Home Game: Tuesday, Dec. 23 vs. Florida | 7:00 p.m. ET | FDSNSO | Tickets | Parking