Flyers can’t withstand Carolina Hurricanes’ speed, drop their second straight in a 4-1 loss

Flyers coach John Tortorella knew his team would get tossed and turned a little bit on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

They were facing the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the NHL’s fastest teams that also likes to check and put pressure on its opponents. He probably didn’t expect his team to get rocked as the Hurricanes surged forward.

For the first 40 minutes, the Flyers withstood the barrage — the Flyers faced 37 shots in the game, tying the season-high set against the Ottawa Senators — but in the third period the dam broke. The end result was a 4-1 loss, the Flyers’ second straight.

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It was not the start Tortorella and his crew wanted. Just 30 seconds into the game, Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield sent a floater from the right point that got through traffic and past Ivan Fedotov after a Scott Laughton turnover.

Then, the Hurricanes checked and pressed and pinched. But Fedotov regrouped and the Flyers skaters helped out their goalie.

In the first period, Egor Zamula cleared a loose puck near the right post after he was credited with two straight blocks, against defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Chatfield. Later in the period, Flyers top defenseman Travis Sanheim smothered a pass that, if it had gone through, would have left two Hurricanes alone in front. And in the second period, Joel Farabee swiped a puck away after Tyson Jost put a shot on goal.

Before Farabee’s assist, the Flyers tied things up in the first on a shot by Ryan Poehling from above the circle that went through the legs of former Flyers blueliner Sean Walker. The play was started by Noah Cates, who knocked the puck off Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s stick, allowing Nick Seeler to send the puck up to Poehling.

The Flyers ended the period tied up — thanks to the play of Fedotov as he slid to stop a Jordan Martinook attempt at the right post before making an unreal diving stop on Sebastian Aho — but put only four shots on goal in the middle frame after 11 in the first. Carolina had 10 shots in each of the first two periods.

In the third period, the wheels fell off for the Flyers. By the seven-minute mark, the Flyers were trailing 4-1.

Aho made it 2-1 when Erik Johnson’s pass up the board went right to the Finn and he scored after cutting to the middle. Jordan Staal made it 3-1 when he deflected an Orlov shot from the point after he won an offensive-zone faceoff. Fifty-five seconds later, Jack Roslovic put the game out of reach when he scored after a nice move over Fedotov after receiving a pass from Aho through multiple Flyers off a neutral-zone turnover by Poehling.

Morgan Frost remained a healthy scratch. He has not played in three of the past four games. … The Flyers wore a helmet sponsor, Chevrolet, for the first time. Chevrolet’s logo will be on their helmets for all road and home games.

The Flyers practice on Friday before a Saturday afternoon meeting with Connor Bedard and the visiting Chicago Blackhawks (1 p.m., NBCSP). Bedard was the No. 1 pick in 2023, the same draft in which Michkov was taken seventh overall by the Flyers.