Alexei Ponikarovsky scores two leading Carolina Hurricanes over Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 -NHL Update
Alexei Ponikarovsky’s two goals during the 60 minute contest, including an insurance shot in the second period, allowing the Carolina Hurricanes to win their second straight matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2, Monday night, November 21, 2011, at
the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
After winning three straight contests, the Philadelphia Flyers had their winning streak snapped by the rowdy Winnipeg Jets and now their second consecutive loss against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Ilya Bryzgalov and Carolina goalie, Cam Ward, faced nearly the same amount of shots, 31-32, on their nets, but as the former fell short on four, Ward stayed focused in the net and blocked 30 of his shots.
"I thought I really had a good eye on all the shots and that's a credit to the guys working in the zone, moving bodies and letting you see those lanes," Ward said. "Blocking shots is a commitment to play strong defensively. Guys want to turn this thing around
and be successful. To do that, you need guys willing to throw their body in front of shots because sometimes the goalie can't see it."
Alexei Ponikarovsky scored the opening goal a little over midway through the opening period during their second power play opportunity of the night as Philadelphia’s, Wayne Simmonds, was booked for holding with a minor penalty.
Carolina rookie, Jeff Skinner, came up with his ninth goal of the regular season with less than 15 seconds to play and extended their lead to, 2-0, to end the first period.
James van Riemsdyk finally answered back for Philadelphia with his eighth of the season on a quick breakaway opportunity unassisted, while Carolina got another by Chad LaRose, nearly two minutes later.
Matt Read scored the last Philadelphia goal at the 12:24 mark to capitalise on their first power play goal while Ponikarovsky scored the final goal of the night on the Flyers only penalty of the period.
"We came in with the mindset that we wanted to play a good defensive game and we'll get whatever we can offensively," Ponikarovsky told NHL.com.
Carolina Hurricanes hope to continue the momentum as they have the next two at home, starting off with the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. Philadelphia has the next at New York against the Islanders on the same day.
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