Flyers take another punch to the gut with OT loss to Hurricanes

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For a third straight game, the Flyers hung tough with a top Metropolitan Division opponent.

But for a third straight time, they came away with a loss.

The Flyers dropped to the Hurricanes, 4-3, in overtime on a Presidents Day afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. They've lost five straight.

Gerry Mayhew, Patrick Brown and Oskar Lindblom scored for the Flyers (15-25-10), who are 2-13-5 in their last 20 games. They've scored only 2.40 goals per game during that stretch.

The Flyers nearly won it Monday in OT but Frederik Andersen made a highlight-reel stop for Carolina.

"It looked like we had the move, it looked like we had the net, but just a desperation save by Andersen there," Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said. "Seems like that's the way it goes. Certainly not getting the bounces, certainly not getting the breaks, but we just have stay with it and believe that it will come."

Brett Pesce netted the game-winner with 18 seconds left in the bonus session.

Lindblom knotted the score with a little under five minutes left in regulation after Vincent Trocheck gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead earlier in the third period.

"I thought we came back today at least, played pretty well, but just need to find a way to win," Lindblom said. "That’s the only thing that matters in this sport — to win games. We need to prove that and try to win tomorrow.”

The Flyers' last three losses have been disheartening ones (0-1-2). They relinquished a 4-2 third-period lead against the Penguins last Tuesday and a 3-2 third-period lead against the Capitals last Thursday.

They tied Monday's game twice in the third period, but are now 8-4-10 in games decided by one goal.

"When we do the things that we're supposed to and we do them shift after shift, man after man, we're getting good results and we're capable of playing with anybody," Yeo said.

"For me personally, I'm not allowed to be frustrated, disappointed, feel sorry for ourselves. We have to just remain incredibly resilient right now and determined to keep getting better. I'm going to ask the same of the players."

The Hurricanes (35-11-4) have won twice at the Wells Fargo Center this season by a combined score of 10-6.

• The Flyers needed to take advantage of the first period given Carolina had played Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh and they hadn't played since last Thursday.

The Flyers held the Hurricanes to only two shots in the opening stanza, but they failed to score themselves.

To no surprise, the Hurricanes found their legs and game in the middle period to take a 2-1 lead into second intermission. They improved to 24-1-1 when leading after two periods.

Carolina scored just 24 seconds into the second stanza. Mayhew's goal drew the Flyers even 35 seconds later. The 29-year-old entered this season with two career NHL goals. He has six with the Flyers, making for a very nice story in this lost 2021-22 season.

Teuvo Teravainen put the Hurricanes back ahead later in the period off a beautiful feed from Andrei Svechnikov.

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• With Carter Hart ruled out during the morning because of an eye infection, Martin Jones started in net.

The 32-year-old converted 27 saves.

With the Flyers set to aggressively sell, Jones is one of the club's trade chips at the March 21 deadline. He's on a one-year, $2 million deal and no NHL goalie played in more games than Jones over the previous six seasons. He also owns 60 career playoff starts and three games of 40 or more saves this season.

Any clubs in position for a run but have some instability in net will be interested as the trading period draws closer.

"Jonesy's a great pro. I coached against him for a long time," Yeo said before the game. "He's a guy that never asks a question. There's been a lot of times here where we've been sort of running with Carter, his attitude has been outstanding, his support for Carter has been outstanding and when we've asked him to come in, he's been real good."

Andersen was very good, stopping 38 of the Flyers' 41 shots.

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• Brown and Rasmus Ristolainen returned to the lineup.

Ristolainen was back after missing the last three games because of an upper-body injury. Brown played his first game since Jan. 8 after recovering from an MCL sprain.

Brown, a 29-year-old center who was claimed off of waivers ahead of the regular-season opener, has missed time with the knee injury, a dislocated thumb and a bout with COVID-19.

He tied the game early in the third period. Isaac Ratcliffe assisted the tally.

In other health matters, Joel Farabee (upper body), Kevin Hayes (abdominal) and Derick Brassard (hip) participated in portions of practice last week.

Farabee hasn't been ruled out for Saturday's game against the Capitals (12:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

The Flyers are hoping Wade Allison (MCL sprain) will be cleared for full participation next week.

• Zack MacEwen dropped the gloves with Ian Cole in the third period.

• Monday was Pride Night at the Wells Fargo Center.

• The Flyers are right back at it Tuesday when they host the Blues (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

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