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Flyers start 0-3

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Flyers finally scored their first even-strength goal of the season.

The only problem is that one goal will not win you many hockey games in the NHL. Even the blaring Hurricane warning siren at PNC Arena couldn't shake the Flyers' offense from their doldrums, as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the 'Canes on Sunday evening.

The Flyers are now 0-3 for the second season in a row - and a different kind of warning siren is growing louder with each game.

The Flyers could manage to put just one goal past Carolina backup Anton Khudobin and a defense that ranked 29th in goals-against last season. Oh, and the Hurricanes were without longtime defenseman Tim Gleason, who missed the game due to injury.

Truth is, the Flyers never got off on the right foot. They were outshot, 14-3, to start the game and were pounded in the face-off circle.

At one point in the first period, Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner had as many shots (4) as the Flyers' entire team.

Luke Schenn finally got the Flyers on the board early in the second period when his shot from the lower circle re-directed past Khudobin with the help of bodies in front. The Schenn brothers have accounted for two of the Flyers' three goals in the first three games.

What Schenn giveth, he also taketh away.

A little more than five minutes after scoring for the Flyers, Schenn rushed an outlet pass from behind his own net, which hit off Skinner's skate and landed directly on the stick of Radek Dvoark. It didn't take long for Dvorak to go top-shelf over Steve Mason to make it 2-1 in favor of the Hurricanes, which ended up sticking as the final score.

The Flyers weren't able to apply much pressure in the final frame. They finished with 18 shots overall, not too many more than the franchise record-low of 13.

The game was a waste of a solid performance from Mason, who stopped 32 of 34 shots. At many points during Sunday's loss, the ice seemed to be tilted in Carolina's favor, with the Hurricanes hemmed in the Flyers' zone for long stretches.

Sloppy passing and poor breakouts limited the Flyers' already anemic offense. Captain Claude Giroux does not have a point to start the season. And Zac Rinaldo was one of the Flyers' most noticeable players, which probably says something in and of itself.

More in Monday's Daily News.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers

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