Flyers grind out win over Hurricanes

RALEIGH -- Jerome Samson finally scored his first NHL goal for the Carolina Hurricanes.

While that was a thrill, he would have liked one more to go with it.

Samson was recalled Tuesday morning from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL and was in the lineup Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. The forward contributed a power-play goal in the second period and some energetic play, but it was not enough as the Flyers won 2-1 at the RBC Center.

With the Canes trailing 1-0, Samson first forced an interference penalty against defenseman Kimmo Timonen. On the power play, he outbattled defenseman Andrej Meszaros for the puck behind the net, then scored on a blast from the bottom of the left circle.

"It finally went in for me," Samson said. "It took longer than expected. It was good to play today in a role I'm used to (in Charlotte)."

That is, a scoring role. Samson, 24, had played 30 NHL games for the Canes the past two seasons but mostly had been used for fourth-line duties.

But new Canes coach Kirk Muller has been willing to give AHL callups such as Zac Dalpe and Drayson Bowman major minutes. Muller did the same for Samson, who was needed when forward Chad LaRose was injured Monday in practice.

Samson, playing in his first NHL game this season, began on Jussi Jokinen's line. He not only played almost 13 1/2 minutes, but was used on Eric Staal's line later in the game.

He also nearly tied the score on a rush with Staal.

Sean Couturier's goal early in the third period had given the Flyers the 2-1 lead, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was making save after save. But the biggest of Bobrovsky's 35 saves may have come with three minutes, seven seconds left in regulation.

Staal and Samson hooked up on the rush and Staal got the puck to Samson, but Samson could not beat Bobrovsky a second time.

"It was a great pass. I even called for it," said Samson, who leads the Checkers with 15 goals. "I made a move on (Bobrovsky) and went to my backhand and just didn't get the shot off. I fanned on it.

"It happens fast out there. You can't think about it over and over. Just try to bounce back next game."

While Samson was an emergency recall, there may be a next game for him. Muller isn't sure when LaRose will return and liked what he saw of Samson.

"It's a big step and I thought he came in and played well," Muller said. "Played well without the puck, played well and created some good opportunities."

After a scoreless first period, the Flyers (25-12-4) took a 1-0 lead when rookie Brayden Schenn knocked in the rebound of a Wayne Simmonds shot early in the second. Couturier's goal, the seventh of his rookie season, came on a shot from the right circle three minutes, 23 seconds into the third that beat goalie Cam Ward to the stick side.

"He made a pretty good shot," Canes defenseman Jay Harrison said. "It was one of those things. They find ways to create but at the same time, I thought we created as much if not more."

Ward had 35 saves for the Canes (14-23-7), who were 5-1-1 in their previous seven home games.

Carolina defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was hit in the face by a puck in the second period and did not return. Muller did not know the severity of the injury after the game.

"No one wants to lose around here, no one wants to make it a habit," Muller said. "But that's a good hockey club over there.

"I thought everyone put a good effort in. We battled. We played, for the most part, head-to-head with them."