National Hockey League
Philadelphia 4, Carolina 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Referees: Ghislain Hebert, Dave Jackson
Linesmen: Don Henderson, Steve Miller
Attendance: 18205

PHILADELPHIA -- It's safe to say rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is fitting in just fine with the Philadelphia Flyers.

And when it matters most.

On Tuesday night, Gostisbehere delivered his third game-winning overtime goal in just 15 games this season to help Philadelphia beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

It's not getting old, huh?

"No," Gostisbehere said with a smile. "It's definitely fun, for sure."

Gostisbehere won it off a beautiful feed from left winger Jakub Voracek, who finished with a goal and three points to push the Flyers (13-12-6) past the Hurricanes for the third time in as many games this season.

"(Voracek) with the pass, he's one of the best in the NHL for a reason," Gostisbehere said.

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Gostisbehere is the first rookie to have three overtime goals in a season since 2007-08, when Andrew Cogliano did it with the Edmonton Oilers -- as a forward over the course of 82 games.

"Yeah, 3-on-3 is built for him," Voracek said of Gostisbehere. "He's a great skater, with a great shot. He's smart as well, so he knows when to jump in and what to do with the puck when he has it so that's why he is where he is right now and that's why he's scoring those goals, because he's a hell of a player."

Carolina left winger Jeff Skinner scored a hat trick to give him nine goals in the last six games, but the Hurricanes (12-14-5) couldn't find production from any other source.

"The effort was a good, I thought we had effort across the board," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "We found a way to get a point out of it down one going into the third period. We'll take the point and move on."

Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth, the NHL's save percentage leader (.939) coming in, kept Carolina at bay after the Hurricanes scored five goals in each of their previous four games.

"Offensively I thought we were dangerous," Peters said. "We have to clean up some of our puck management, some of our decisions in the neutral zone and make it a little bit easier on ourselves. You're not going to win very often giving up three and four goals on a consistent basis."

With Philadelphia holding a 3-2 lead, Skinner scored his third goal midway through the final period to force overtime.

Carolina goalie Eddie Lack made 27 saves in the loss and didn't stand much of a chance against Voracek and Gostisbehere's 2-on-1 in overtime.

"The guy that gets the Grade A chance first is usually the one that scores," Lack said.

Skinner put Carolina on the board at 1:56. With a defenseman hanging on him, Skinner took the puck to the circle, stopped on a dime and laced a wrist shot in between the legs of Neuvirth to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.

A struggling Voracek, who was shifted from right wing to left prior to the game, had one go his way in the second period when a bouncing shot from defenseman Radko Gudas deflected off him in front for his second goal in 31 games.

Last season, Voracek had 12 goals in his first 31 games.

"Jake's a talented guy and he's very intelligent and has a great hockey sense," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. "So there's an adjustment to be made there and he did that."

Skinner netted his second of the game to regain the Hurricanes' advantage 3:14 later. Skinner, battling in front, knocked a high rebound out of the air and in for a 2-1 lead.

"His compete is very good, he's on the puck, he's taking it to the net and paying a price offensively," Peters said. "He's been hot here for a little while."

The Flyers capped off a big second period with goals from centers Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier to take a 3-2 lead at second intermission.

Skinner then struck again in the final period for his hat trick.

But Gostisbehere ended it with more overtime magic.

"You have to let things develop," he said of 3-on-3 overtime. "You miss the net, make one wrong play, it's coming back right down your throat. You just have to stay within yourself and make the easy play."

NOTES: Hurricanes backup G Eddie Lack started for the third straight game. Starting G Cam Ward has not started since Dec. 8 when he was removed after yielding four goals on eight shots. ... Flyers G Michal Neuvirth earned his third consecutive start over G Steve Mason. Neuvirth came in with an NHL-leading .939 save percentage. ... LW Nathan Gerbe (lower body) remained out for the Hurricanes. Since suffering the injury on Nov. 22, Carolina said Gerbe would miss four to six weeks. ... D Luke Schenn (lower body), C Sam Gagner (upper body) and D Mark Streit (groin) were out of the Flyers' lineup. Schenn and Streit participated in the team's morning skate.
Top Game Performances
 
Carolina   Philadelphia
Jeff Skinner 3 Points Jakub Voracek 3
Jeff Skinner 3 Goals Jakub Voracek 1
Phillip Di Giuseppe 2 Assists Jakub Voracek 2
Jeff Skinner 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Eddie Lack .871 Save Percentage Michal Neuvirth .906
Eddie Lack 27 Saves Michal Neuvirth 29
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Carolina 32 3 1-4 2-2 11 27
Philadelphia 31 4 0-2 3-4 25 30
Upcoming Games
  • Philadelphia will play their next game at home against Vancouver. The Flyers have a W/L % of .417 after a win and .421 after a loss.
  • Carolina will play their next game at home against Florida. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .308 after a win and .444 after a loss.