RALEIGH, N.C. — Another dreg among the NHL’s bottom-feeders served the Flyers another disappointing loss to a team below them in the standings.
All the warm and fuzzy feelings of briefly getting to within two points of Boston at one point over the weekend washed out Tuesday night at PNC Arena as the Hurricanes stormed the Flyers and goalie Rob Zepp, 4-1.
Among the last 13 games against non-playoff opponents, the Flyers have won just five times. That says all you need to know.
But the Flyers did not lose any ground on Boston in the wild-card chase — the Bruins' 2-1 home loss to the Canucks kept the Flyers four points back of Boston.
Scoring lead
Jakub Voracek’s assist on Nick Grossmann’s first-period goal gave Voracek 64 points, temporarily tying him with Patrick Kane and Nick Backstrom for the NHL scoring lead.
Notable goals
Grossmann now has a career-high four goals. Voracek did all the work on his goal, taking a pass from Matt Read, going behind the net, drawing players toward him, then feeding Grossmann, who pinched from the point and fired a sneaky shot through a screen to make it a 1-1 game.
Goalie report
Zepp had a critical save with his pad on Brad Malone in the final seconds of the opening period. Not much he could do on shots Tuesday night, especially when the penalty kill units were poor.
Career numbers
Alexander Semin, who played well, now has 24 career points in 29 games against the Flyers with two assists in this game.
Power play
The Flyers' third-ranked power play came up flat against the NHL’s top penalty kill units. They were 0 for 2. Carolina was 2 for 4.
Penalty kill
The Flyers weren’t aggressive and just sat back on Carolina’s first power-play goal, something they didn’t do in going 7 for 7 over the weekend against Nashville and Washington. Carolina burned them for two power-play goals in this game.
Injuries
Michael Del Zotto took a shot off the ankle but stayed in the game. It bears watching rest of the week, though. R.J. Umberger injured his right knee in a collision with teammate Ryan White and then a trip from Justin Faulk. Umberger did return. White took a shot off the foot late.
Scratches
Defensemen Luke Schenn and Carlo Colaiacovo; forward Vinny Lecavalier; goalie Ray Emery (suspected groin pull). All are healthy except Emery.
Up next
The Flyers traveled to Toronto after the game to prep for Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs.