Tyson Foerster scores his first NHL goal but Flyers fall to Hurricanes, 5-4 in overtime

PHILADELPHIA — On Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers took a swig from the fountain of youth, as the future of the franchise flaunted their talents against the Carolina Hurricanes. Apparently, it wasn’t big enough of a gulp.

Three of the Flyers’ four goal scorers in their 5-4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes were 24 years old or younger — 21-year-old Tyson Foerster, 24-year-old Noah Cates, and 23-year-old Joel Farabee. Trade-deadline-acquisition Brendan Lemieux scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to go up, 4-3, but the good feelings didn’t last long.

Winger Scott Laughton was called for holding with just seven seconds remaining in regulation and the Flyers up 4-3. With .3 seconds left on the clock, Hurricanes forward Martin Nečas tied the game. Sebastian Aho completed the hat trick just 28 seconds into overtime to earn the Hurricanes the victory.

“I just thought it was a bad bounce,” Lemieux said of the Hurricanes’ game-tying goal. “It [stinks]. And it didn’t represent how we played tonight. So I was disappointed in the result.”

Foerster picked up the first goal of his NHL career in just his fifth game. Farabee scored his second goal in two nights to tie the game in the third period, 3-3, after previously failing to find the back of the net for 26 games.

Feed Foerster

On Friday night, Foerster collected his first NHL point on his assist of Farabee’s goal, which occurred shortly after Foerster fired wide of the net on a 2-on-1. But when Foerster earned another scoring chance on Saturday, he didn’t miss. Five minutes into the second period, Lemieux found center Morgan Frost with a pass in the neutral zone, then Frost skated toward the Hurricanes’ zone with speed. Frost passed the puck to Foerster off the rush. Foerster entered the zone and wired a wrist shot past goalie Frederik Anderson’s blocker to cut the Hurricanes’ lead, 2-1.

Not only did Foerster pick up his first NHL goal, but he also had his first multipoint night in the big leagues. He collected a primary assist on the Flyers’ third-period, power-play goal. Foerster finished with two points and three shots on goal.

“It was nice to finally get one past the goalie there,” Foerster said. “But I mean, this league is all about confidence and I feel like mine’s pretty high right now. But I’m just gonna look for the next game.”

Youthful power play

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